World Cup 2019: England hand India their first defeat

England defeat India by 31 runs, keep their semis hope alive.

Birmingham: Eoin Morgan led England kept themselves alive and put one foot into the semis after defeating India by 31 runs. The Three Lions opted to bat first after winning the toss as the Englishmen made a forced change, bringing in half-fit Jason Roy in place of James Vince while Liam Plunkett replaced Moeen Ali.

India, on their part, also made a change, bringing in Rishabh Pant in place of Vijay Shankar. This match was an important fixture for the hosts to guarantee a place for themselves in the semi-finals.

The Three Lions, started the innings on a positive note as an in-form Roy hit Shami for two boundaries in the very first over. The duo went on to stitch a 160-runs partnership as Roy departed after scoring a well-made 66.

Jonny Bairstow, in the meanwhile, kept hitting boundaries and scoring at ease as the keeper-batsman went on to make 111 at just 109 deliveries. England seemed to have had lost their progress in the middle as Mohammed Shami bagged 5 wickets in the innings, however, a brilliant 79 runs cameo by Ben Stokes helped England post India a target of 338 in 50 overs.

The Indians started on a poor note as KL Rahul departed without troubling the scorers. However, a 138 runs partnership between Indian skipper Virat Kohli (66) and Rohit Sharma (102) helped India realise a dream of an epic chase. Soon, however, India lost couple of wickets in the middle-overs which made the target difficult to achieve.

In the end, India could manage only 306 in their allotted 50 overs as the Men in Blue lost the game by 31 runs. India next play Bangladesh on tuesday, while England play New Zealand on wednesday.