Rohit, seamers maintain India’s unbeaten run
A stirring spell of fast bowling from Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah up front blew England away in Lucknow to make it six wins in six games at the ODI World Cup 2023 for India. After the pair struck early, the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja stepped up too to ensure England’s chase was derailed well in advance even as the holders were tasked with surmounting a relatively small total (229/9). India were incredibly fiery and on the mark with the ball, evidenced by the six bowled dismissals to their name. The super soppers were out in full swing in the innings break, giving England hopes of a successful chase. But a terrific spell of fast bowling from Bumrah and Shami left England tottering at 39 for 4 in the 10th over. Bumrah started the damage by taking out Dawid Malan in the fifth over. Under lights, the ball was skidding on but still kept low occasionally that made batting tough even as dew made its presence felt. Malan was tentative on this occasion when Bumrah shifted to round the stumps after troubling him from over the stumps, and played one on to the stumps. Joe Root got a ripper first up from over the stumps – a ball that tailed in, kept low and hit him plumb in front of the stumps. Root reviewed but took it back with him. Mohammed Siraj struggled with his rhythm so Rohit quickly shifted to Mohammed Shami who was devastating straightaway. He kept Ben Stokes glued to his crease and cramped for any run-scoring for nine dot balls, before the England batter tried to swing his way out of trouble and missed the angled-in delivery by a mile to get bowled. In his next over, a scratchy Jonny Bairstow inside-edged a ball onto his stumps to leave England in deep trouble. Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali tried to slowly resurrect England’s chase but Kuldeep Yadav came up with an absolute magic ball to end that. In his first over, Kuldeep got 2.6 degrees of turn on the ball, but Buttler was bamboozled with a ball in the former’s next over that spun a whopping 7.2 degrees. Buttler went on the backfoot to play a drive through cover but was inches away from the trajectory of the ball that crashed onto the stumps. For the next overs, Moeen and Liam Livingstone attempted to move the chase along, but were once again stopped in their tracks by ruthless decision-making from Rohit. The Indian captain sensed the comfort that the two batters found in playing against Ravindra Jadeja and brought back Shami in the 24th over. Shami struck immediately as Moeen hung his bat outside the off-stump and nicked a ball behind. In the space of six overs, England went from 81 for 6 to 98 for 8 as Jadeja got in on the wickets too. Fittingly, Shami and Bumrah returned to pull the plug on another one of England’s woeful nights with the bat as they were bundled out for 129 in the 35th over. Before his bowlers made the target of 230 look bigger than it actually was, Rohit laid the foundation stones for that score on a tricky, unpredictable Lucknow surface where odd balls nipped in and the bounce was inconsistent. India were put in to bat – for the first time in this tournament – and were in trouble very early with Chris Woakes and David Willey taking out Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli – for an eight-ball duck, and Shreyas Iyer with only 40 runs on the board. KL Rahul joined Rohit in the middle – for the first time in an ODI since 2020, and ground out a revival for the form team of the tournament through the middle. Even in tough conditions, Rohit played at a fairly brisk pace, getting to his half-century off 66 balls. Liam Livingstone got sharp, quick turn but the Indian pair saw him out for an over and then used him as a release avenue as both of them got multiple boundaries off him. KL Rahul fell to Willey against the run of play for 39, and Jos Buttler – as proactive as his opposite number – brought back Adil Rashid to end Rohit’s stay. But he played 101 balls for a knock of 87, leaving India in a better position. Suryakumar Yadav then earned his ODI stripes with a solid 47-ball 49 that helped the team go past the 200-run mark. Before rattling England with the ball, Bumrah threw his bat around for a bit and frustrated England by adding 20 runs for the ninth wicket with Kuldeep that led India to 229/9 in 50 overs – 100 more than how much they needed to bundle England out. Brief Scores:
India229/9 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 89, Suryakumar Yadav 49, KL Rahul 39; David Willey 3-45, Adil Rashid 2-35 Chris Woakes 2-33) beat England 129 in 34.5 overs (Liam Livingstone 27; Mohammed Shami 4-22, Jasprit Bumrah 3-32, Kuldeep Yadav 2-24) by 100 runs
