Chris Woakes took the crucial wicket of Rohit Sharma (Reuters)England defeated India by 31 runs in a thrilling encounter at Edgbaston on Sunday, after England put a record World Cup chase of 338 for the Men in Blue.
After Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow set England off to a healthy start to 160 without a wicket in 22 overs, England managed to keep the momentum with a late Ben Stokes blitz. Jonny Bairstow scored his elusive ton, his first in the World Cup, before he was dismissed by Shami on 111. Although the Indian pacer claimed five wickets, England kept the wheel turning with Stokes scoring 79 runs from 54 balls. England reached the total of 337/7 after punishing both the Indian spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
India were limited to a slow start after Chris Woakes bagged the wicket of KL Rahul. Although Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli set a brilliant 138-run partnership, it was left too late with the asking runrate soaring. Dismissing Rohit Sharma on 102 and Hardik Pandya on 45, England cruised through to the end of the match limiting India to 306/5 after 50 overs.
They now have 10 points from eight games, and still within a sliver of distance of reaching the World Cup semi-final.
India’s unbeaten run at #CWC19 comes to an end!
England win by 31 runs to move back into fourth and give their semi-final hopes a huge boost.
How good is this tournament?!#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/YuqHjNoxlh
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 30, 2019
Good evening India 👍👍👍
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 30, 2019
England back on track. Too good a team to miss out. I don’t see them losing to New Zealand now.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 30, 2019
Given the results in the last ten days, given the weight of expectation, given the size of the occasion, that is a momentous result for England. They’ve still got to go and beat New Zealand to guarantee semi-finals but that was a superb performance under immense pressure. #CWC19
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) June 30, 2019
🏴 v 🇮🇳 in World Cups
1975 🏴
1983 🇮🇳
1987 🏴
1992 🏴
1999 🇮🇳
2003 🇮🇳
2011 ↔️
2019 🏴Today’s win is England’s first in #CWC v India in 27 years! pic.twitter.com/L76MSQQbCw
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 30, 2019
Sadly for Sri Lankan fans, this result means their campaign is over.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 30, 2019
Congratulations England on playing better cricket today.
Tough luck India #INDvENG— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 30, 2019
The unbeaten run comes to an end. A hard day at the office for the boys. The business end of the tournament is still up for grabs. Come on boys let’s regroup and get back on track. #INDvENG #CWC19
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) June 30, 2019
Winning the toss on a belter and batting first with a lot of Intent….the formula that took England to the top of the World worked perfectly today. The Must Win Encounter. #CWC19 #EngvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 30, 2019
The odd tough day for India, not a bad time to introspect before the knockouts begin, top performance from @ECB_cricket #ENGvIND #CWC19
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) June 30, 2019
In defeat, let’s not forget the performance of Jasprit Bumrah. Another absolutely sensational performance with the ball.👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏#bumrah
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) June 30, 2019
Very strange end to this game. Was great until the last few overs. 🤔 #ENGIND
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 30, 2019
Reading what the arm chair experts say on Twitter about the game having never played professional sport under pressure is as entertaining as watching a tough run chase..👏👏👏
— Mahesh Bhupathi (@Maheshbhupathi) June 30, 2019
In the post-match session, former India captain Sourav Ganguly criticised the batting approach of MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav, rotating strike in the death overs and consuming too many balls.
Meanwhile, the Man of the Match, Jonny Bairstow said, “It was important to set a platform and assess the conditions early after winning the toss. It’s been frustrating for the guys as we’ve played well but the results have not gone in our favour. We can improve things going forward against New Zealand. I was reacting to each ball. VVS definitely helped me with his knowledge against spin (while playing for Sunrisers). They bowled well upfront as they got few edges but we capitalised later. We have three must win games in the next two weeks but we need to focus on the next game that we play against New Zealand.”
