England survived to live another day as they out-batted India for a 31-run win in a high-scoring World Cup encounter, keeping their semi-final hopes alive. Opener Jonny Bairstow’s hundred (111 off 109 balls) set the platform and a cavalier 54-ball 79 by all-rounder Ben Stokes took England to an imposing 337 for 7 in 50 overs after batting first, neutralising the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav with some heavy duty hitting.

The total proved to be good enough as Rohit Sharma’s (102) 25th ODI hundred and skipper Virat Kohli’s (66) fifth consecutive half-century could only take India to 306 for 5 as England captain Eoin Morgan rotated his bowlers effectively at the death.

Here is India’s report card:

1) Rohit Sharma - Rating: 7/10, Verdict: Good

Rohit Sharma scored a ton for India - but as Sourav Ganguly rightly pointed out, India were poor in the first 10 overs in the chase. Chasing 338, India could only muster 28/1 in 10 overs with Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli in the middle. The batsman was able to accelerate later on and scored 102 in 107. But his fall was where the collapse began for India.

2) KL Rahul - Rating: 0/10, Verdict: Very Poor

KL Rahul was injured while fielding and spent most of the time back in the dressing room. Then he came on to face just seven balls, and flicked the ball back to Chris Woakes to get out without scoring. He went for a duck and made no contribution in the mammoth chase.

3) Virat Kohli - Rating: 6/10, Verdict: Above Average

Because it’s Virat Kohli, one is used to use a different scale altogether to measure his innings. The Indian skipper is still far from his best in the tournament, despite scoring five fifties on the trot. But his inability to get a big hundred in this World Cup, once again, hurt India as the onus fell down upon the wobbly middle order.

4) Rishabh Pant - Rating: 5/10, Verdict: Average

Rishabh Pant was given a go ahead in place of Vijay Shankar but he looked extremely fidgety during his brief cameo in the middle. He was almost run out twice as soon as he came on, dropped his bat once while trying to slog, and found it hard to hit too many clean hits. In the end, in typical Pant fashion, he was dismissed for 32, as he holed out at long-off. He needed to do more.

5) Hardik Pandya - Rating: 6/10, Verdict: Average

Hardik Pandya was extremely expensive with the ball, giving away 60 runs in his 10 overs, and failing to get a wicket. But he almost managed to put India back in the contest, after he hammered 45 runs in 33 balls with four boundaries. On a day, when some of the Indian players were slammed hard for lack of intent, Pandya must be credited for at least trying to go big.

6) MS Dhoni - Rating: 1/10, Verdict: Poor

It was one confusing innings from MS Dhoni and his reasons for playing the way he did in the final over, are known only to him. The batsman might have scored an unbeaten 42 in 31 balls, but his lack of intent to hit boundaries ensured India’s chase fizzled out much before it should have been. As Sourav Ganguly rightly pointed out, it was either about go hard, or go home, and Dhoni did neither.

7) Kedar Jadhav - Rating 1/10, Verdict: Poor

Kedar Jadhav, if not being asked to bowl, has no reason to be in this team. The all-rounder was not trusted with the ball by skipper Virat Kohli, even when the regular spinners were struggling. Jadhav came on to bat when India needed 12 runs per over and he struggled to get balls away for boundaries. He will be lucky to get another game.

8) Kuldeep Yadav - Rating: 3/10, Verdict: Average

Kuldeep Yadav was smashed for 46 runs in 4 overs. And then he managed to break the opening stand between Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow. The dismissal slowed things down and Kuldeep finished with figures of 78/1 in 10 overs. But he needed to restrict the run flow and get more wickets, which he failed to do.

9) Mohammed Shami - Rating: 6/10, Verdict: Good

Mohammed Shami registered his maiden five-wicket haul, but he was too costly at the same time. The seamer gave away 69 runs in his 10 overs. Questions could be raised if Bhuvneshwar Kumar was playing instead, would he be equipped to slow down run rate in the death overs.

10) Yuzvendra Chahal - Rating 1/10, Verdict: Poor

Yuzvendra Chahal had a rare off day with the ball as he gave away 88 runs in his 10 overs and could not get any wickets. The leggie registered his worst bowling figures in the match, and failed to curtail runs. The bowler needs to forget this outing, brush it off and learn from his mistakes before the next game.

11) Jasprit Bumrah - Rating 8/10, Verdict: Good

Jasprit Bumrah has been a delight to watch in this tournament and he was no different against England. The pacer gave away just 8 runs in his four overs, and then came back strong in the death overs to curtail runs. Bumrah gave away just 3 runs and dismissed Ben Stokes in the final over, thus restricting the hosts below 350-run mark. But he still struggles to get a wicket with the new ball, which remains only thorn in his otherwise, impeccable tour.

First Published: Jul 01, 2019 13:21 IST