Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): England picked their day, time and match to make the first concerted effort to play like defending champions, laying a tight cordon around the famed Indian bat and reducing the defending score to an achievable 229 after their skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to field.
It was a riveting first innings against the hosts before a packed crowd and a happening red pitch, wherein England showed up their different side as did Rohit Sharma, who played like a cautious warrior to build up a doddering Indian innings.
Rohit Sharma’s 87 stitched up in difficult circumstances formed the backbone of the show that was steered ably towards the end by Surya Kumar Yadav, who contributed 49 runs to total.
However, the conversation was all about the Brits, who laid a siege around Team India in the city of Nawabs with their bowlers, who returned with good figures in a match where India reached its 200 runs in 271 balls and 211 minutes with the loss of seven wickets and somehow rose up to 229 after the Surya cameo that should have steered till the 50th overs but ended three overs short.
The English bowlers started the party early with both the quicks and the spinners showing up noticeably on the scoreboard. David Wiley’s 3/45, Chris Woakes 33/2, Adil Rashid 35/2 and Mark Wood 46/1 reduced the total to 229.
The English comeback in the tournament started early with Shubman Gill. The young gun’s listless run in his debut World Cup continued when he committed to a loose drive in the first Powerplay itself. Woakes' probing length got his off stump as he walked for just nine runs. The long-term impact of Gill’s early departure was the quietening down of the Indian run mill, with India 26-1.
Gill’s exit was soon deluged by Virat Kohli being nabbed by Ben Stokes at mid-off after miscuing a charged-up drive and leaving a pin drop silent stadium for a duck, first time in the tournament. The only sound that could be heard in this 50000-packed stadium was of David Willey who roared in excitement, more so as he had been picked by Rohit Sharma for sixes and fours.
Playing first for the first time in this World Cup, the Indian chase masters looked out of sorts, having lost two big wickets in the first Powerplay itself and the Indian scoreboard breathing heavy at 27-2. Suddenly, it looked that England were back in the World Cup the way a defending champion need to be.
To give a breather, Rohit Sharma swung his bat to get an awkward looking top edge off Woakes to the boundary over Joe Root’s head at first slip. Not one of his polished ones but lucrative enough to be excused with a precaution warning.
England who, for once did not make a change in their squad, and despite the questionable decision of their captain Jos Buttler to elect fielding, were well and truly playing like the champions they are. By the 12th over, Shreyas Iyer gave in to youthful passion and swung his bat across the line to a back of length ball and followed Virat Kohli to the pavilion at four, bringing India to a dismal 40/3 and compelling his colleagues to abandon their usual attack mode for a defensive stability in the absence of runs.
India 50 came in 66 minutes and 86 balls, after a quiet Rohit but the fact that India could score only nine runs in the last six overs of the Powerplay was a good story for England and disturbing one for a team looking for the semifinal spot in the tournament through this game.
Rohit Sharma at 33 runs in the 13th over was not the script India had been writing thus far. Just then, in the 16th over, a ball tailing down the leg side was adjudged lbw for Sharma, who instantly reviewed and lived to belt Mark Wood to a reactive but handsome boundary through deep backward point.
It was an eventful session leading up to the first drinks break with England putting on the squeeze on the famed Indian batters and scalping three big names in the process. A watchful K L Rahul hit his first boundary only after facing 14 balls though an edged one a little away from a slip-less wicket-keeper passed muster only because it was not caught. In the face of a strangely revived English team, it was a dogged fight in the middle for the gradually budding Indian partnership.
The first 20-overs were clearly in England’s favour with the 'Hitman' getting circumspect and the two Indian batters toiling for runs in the face of an arm performance the visitors had been hunting for through their campaign. Rohit Sharma’s 18000 runs in ODIs came unnoticed when he was two short of his 50, a half-ton that came in a longer time than usual, taking 66 balls, six boundaries and two sixes, following it up with a flick six for the books off Wood.
Rohit Sharma’s 50 was a soiree of determination, caution and well-timed opportunism. At this time, his 50-run partnership with KL Rahul also came in, in 25 balls and 60 minutes, which showed how the assigned roles were being played out with doggedness by the Indian batters.
India completed its 100 in 115 balls 117 minutes, even as KL Rahul got enough confidence to start sweeping to the ropes – beautifully at that. K L Rahul got England back into action in the 31st over when an astute bowling change by Buttler had the sheet anchor walking back at 39 as he went down the track to a length ball only to loop it up into Jonny Bairstow’s waiting hands at mid-on. A 91-run partnership ended abruptly bringing India to 131-4 and opening up the middle for a SKY show.
In a bid to speed up the proceedings, Rohit Sharma, at 87, lofted the ball to deep where Liam Livingstone took a brilliant catch packing off the maker of the Indian innings and bringing India back into the doldrums at 164/5 in 36.5 overs. Ravindra Jadeja walked to an unfortunate umpire’s call decision after he went upstairs to a leg before appeal and returned at eight when India was 182/6, bringing out the much discussed but least used Indian tail.
With nine overs left, the conversation shifted from a 250 score, to India somehow surviving the 50 overs. The absence of all-rounder Hardik Pandya was never felt so acutely with Mohammed Shami carrying to the wicketkeeper and walking at 1, India then 183/7. It was now up to SKY to do whatever it took to elevate a sagging scoreline. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah did well to add 21 runs to save the evening and give themselves some hope to nibble on.
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