India vs England, World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, pacers help Men in Blue clinch 100-run win

Team India outplayed defending champions England by 100 runs in their 2023 ODI World Cup clash in Lucknow on Sunday, thereby inflicting England with a fourth straight defeat in the tournament. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table England were looking to chase down a target of 230 after restricting India to 229/9. However, none of the England batters really settled in at the crease as the Indian bowlers dominated proceedings to see them off for 129. Little did England know that the opening 30-run partnership between Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan for the first wicket would be their highest in this contest.

Ahead of the chase, there was heavy dew on the Ekana surface which should have made the task even difficult for the Indian bowlers. However, the England batters found it even more difficult to take on the India pacers at first, and spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja later on. Jasprit Bumrah struck twice in the fifth over, removing Dawid Malan and trapping Joe Root LBW off two consecutive deliveries. England would then rely on Ben Stokes to use his experience to the fullest, but a low on confidence Stokes failed to make an impact, after being cleaned up by Shami in the eighth over for a 10-ball duck. Skipper Jos Buttler then tried to steady England’s sinking ship, but to no avail. Buttler was cleaned up by Kuldeep Yadav, after the former looked to punch on the backfoot, but Kuldeep’s turning delivery eventually did the trick as Buttler failed to make the connection, thereby resulting in his wicket. England were 52/5 by now, their slim hopes of winning this match in tatters. Despite a below-par strike-rate, Liam Livingstone showed some intent, but no fight in him. Livingstone was involved in a 29-run stand with Moeen Ali for the sixth wicket, but with the former getting dismissed, Livingstone would soon lack support from the other end before being dismissed in the 29th over. England were 98/8 at that time, but Adil Rashid and David Willey would go onto lead with a mini-resistance of 24 runs, where the two collected regular boundaries, before Rashid got bowled by ripper of a delivery from Mohammed Shami. England restrict India to 229/9 Earlier, England would go onto restrict India to 229/9 from 50 overs after electing to field first. David Willey finished with three wickets, while Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid finished with two wickets. Mark Wood claimed one wicket as England, currently bottom of the table, gave themselves a chance at possibly clinching only their second win of the tournament. India got off to a rather shaky start with the bat, having lost opener Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in the first powerplay phase. While Gill was cleaned up in the fourth over by Chris Woakes, Kohli, looking to slam David Willrey off a length ball, ended up holing out to Ben Stokes at mid-off. Shreyas Iyer, too, endured a below-par performance with the bat, before being dismissed by Woakes in the 12th over by Woakes for a 16-ball knock of four runs. However, Rohit Sharma then led from the front with a knock of 87 off 101 deliveries, as he forged a 91-run stand with KL Rahul for the fourth wicket . Rahul (39) paced his innings quite cautiously, only hitting boundaries on rare occassions, before giving away his wicket in the 31st over. Rahul charged down the track and looked to go over the bowlers’ head, only for Jonny Bairstow to claim the catch at mid-on. Rohit looked to carry on following Rahul’s dismissal, but was caught by Liam Livingstone in the deep in the 37th over off Adil Rashid’s ball, being dismissed for 87. Rohit had forged a 33-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav before the former got dismissed. Ravindra Jadeja came into bat following Rohit’s dismissal, but before he could make much of an impact, Jadeja was struck LBW by Adil Rashid in the 41st over. SKY then ensured that India’s scoreboard ket ticking, and forged 25 runs with Jasprit Bumrah, before being caught by Woakes at deep point in the 47th over. In the end, it was the duo of Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, who forged 21 runs, who took India to a respectable total.