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Rohit Sharma-led India made it six in six to continue to their domination in the World Cup 2023 and book their berth in the semi-finals. In the same breath, they knocked out defending champions England with a dominating 100-run win at Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. England’s horrendous run in the tournament continued as once again their batting lineup crumbled against a quality bowling attack on a tough Lucknow track.
Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first. India had not batted first in the tournament and won all five games while chasing. They were troubled by England bowlers with the new ball. Chris Woakes got the wicket of Shubman Gill in the fourth over. Then Virat Kohli succumbed to the dot ball pressure and got dismissed by David Willey for a nine-ball duck. Woakes struck again and got rid of an out-of-form Shreyas Iyer who went for a pull shot on a delivery that was not short enough. India were reduced to 40/3 in the 12th over.
Skipper Rohit had to curb his natural instinct to attack. KL Rahul played cautiously as well. Rohit got to his 54th ODI half-century in the 24th over. In the middle overs, Rahul looked settled in the crease. Rohit was firing from one end as well. Then Buttler brought back Willey into the attack. Rahul threw his wicket away as he went for a lofted drive and got caught by Jonny Bairstow. Rahul scored 39 runs from 58 balls. Suryakumar Yadav got off the mark with a boundary.
Adil Rashid broke the partnership in the 37th over. Rohit went for the slog sweep but mistimed it as he could not pick the googly. Liam Livingstone took a fantastic catch while diving. He scored 87 runs from 101 balls including 10 fours and three sixes. In the 41st over, Rashid trapped Ravindra Jadeja in front of the stumps. Jadeja reviewed but the umpire's call went against him. In the next over, Shami was dismissed by Mark Wood.
Jasprit Bumrah struggled to get off the strike. On the 13th ball he faced, he hit a boundary. He was dropped by Moeen Ali as well. In his last over, Willey got another wicket. Suryakumar mistimed the aerial shot and got caught by Woakes. He scored 49 runs from 47 balls including four fours and a six. The crucial partnership between Kuldeep Yadav and Bumrah helped India post 229/9.
In the run chase, Dawid Malan and Bairstow looked to put pressure on India early. Bumrah drew first blood with the wicket of Malan who chopped it on. On the next ball, Joe Root got dismissed lbw for a golden duck. Shami in his second over dominated Ben Stokes and ended it with his wicket. Bumrah would have gotten Bairstow out in the ninth over but Kohli dropped a half chance at first slip. But Shami did not let Bairstow make Kohli regret it. Bairstow got bowled by Shami with a short-of-the-length delivery.
After the seamers' domination with the new ball, Kuldeep got into action. He did not let the partnership build and got the better of Buttler with a massive turner. England lost half their side for 52 in the 16th over. Seeing another partnership grow, Rohit brought back Shami and he delivered with the wicket of Ali. Ravindra Jadeja kept things tight in the meantime. He was rewarded for his consistency as Woakes came dancing down the wicket and got stumped.
Livingstone who tried to hold on to one end fell to Kuldeep as he tried to play a sweep shot but got out lbw for a 46-ball 27. Willey tried to entertain the crowd with a couple of sixes but Bumrah and Shami got one wicket each to wrap up the proceedings. England were bowled out for 129 in 34.5 overs as India continued their unbeaten run with 100-run win.
