In the 29th match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, India defeated England by 100 runs at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
The defending champions won the toss and asked India to bat first. While Shubman Gill got out cheaply in the fourth over itself, it was skipper Rohit Sharma (87), who batted for nearly 37 overs and helped India reach a decent position. The Men in Blue were losing wickets at regular intervals, but the 36-year-old didn’t give up and scored a magnificent half-century, which included 10 fours and three sixes. The knock was quite a responsible one, as he changed gear according to the situation at each possible point. Other batters to boost India’s proceedings were KL Rahul (39) and Suryakumar Yadav (49). Rohit and Rahul even forged a solid 91-run partnership, which was then followed by SKY’s contribution. Towards the end, Jasprit Bumrah also hit a few runs, which took India to a decent but still below-par score of 229/9 in 50 overs.
In the chase, the side appeared absolutely out of shape as it offered another disastrous effort with the willow. Although the Englishmen got off to a decent start with Jonny Bairstow (14) and Dawid Malan (16), the team started to collapse right from the fifth over. The side even managed to score 30 runs off the first 27 balls, but soon after, England were completely taken aback by what happened next. Liam Livingstone (27) was the highest run-getter for the team, but there was absolutely no story to tell from this outing of England’s. The side got bundled for a mere 129 runs in just 35 overs.
While defending, Mohammad Shami was once again clinical as he picked up four wickets and just gave away 22 runs. Jasprit Bumrah was the next best tonight. The 29-year-old took three wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav, who bowled exceptionally well, grabbed two wickets as well. Ravindra Jadeja also showcased his brilliance and took one wicket in seven overs while just conceding 16 runs.
England looked pretty much solid with the ball, as everyone were quite economical. While three wickets were picked by David Willey, two wickets each were also grabbed by Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid. Mark Wood also managed to get one wicket.
Rohit Sharma was adjudged Player of the Match for his skilful knock with the bat. With this win, Team India are certainly one step closer to clinching the first spot in the standings.
Scorecard:
India: 229/9, Overs 50, Rohit Sharma 87, David Willey 3/45
England: 129/10, Overs 34.5, Liam Livingstone 27, Mohammad Shami 4/22