India made it six wins in six games at the ODI World Cup 2023 with a stirring spell from Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah at the top of the order sheet in Lucknow. As the pair struck early, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja also stepped up to ensure England’s chase was hampered well in advance, even as the current World champions faced a relatively modest total (229/9).

At the innings break, England had high hopes of chasing after the super soppers had gone out in full swing. Bumrah and Shami, however, bowled a terrific fast bowling spell after the end of 10th over which left England at 39 for 4. Under lights, the ball skidded on but still kept low occasionally, which made batting tough even as dew made its presence felt. In the fifth over, Bumrah removed Dawid Malan, causing the first damage. The batsman was tentative on this occasion when Bumrah shifted to round the stumps after troubling him from over the stumps, and he played one on the stumps. The first ball that Joe Root hit was a ripper from over the stumps – a ball that tailed in, kept low and hit him plumb in front of the stumps. Root reviewed the ball, but took it back.

Since Mohammed Siraj was having trouble finding his rhythm, Rohit quickly switched to Mohammed Shami, who was immediately devastating. Ben Stokes was cramped for nine dot balls as he kept him glued to the crease and unable to score any runs. He tried to swing out of trouble, but missed a mile to be bowled by the angled-in delivery. After the scratchy start Jonny Bairstow was bowled by Shami in his next over, England was in a deep hole when he inside-edged a ball onto his stumps.

Despite the best efforts of Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali, Kuldeep Yadav came up with an absolutely magical ball that ended England’s chase. The ball spun 2.6 degrees in Kuldeep’s first over, but Buttler was bamboozled with a ball spinning 7.2 degrees in the former’s second over. It took Buttler just inches to play the ball on the backfoot through cover and hit the stumps.

Rohit’s ruthless decision-making stopped Moeen and Liam Livingstone in their tracks once more in the next over as they attempted to move the chase forward. In the 24th over, the Indian captain brought back Shami, who struck immediately after Moeen hung his bat outside the off-stump and nicked a ball behind. Shami sensed the comfort the two batters found playing against Ravindra Jadeja. With Jadeja taking his wickets too, England went from 81 for 6 to 98 for 8 in the span of six overs. Shami and Bumrah returned to bring an end to another disastrous night with the bat as England were bowled out for 129.

On a Lucknow surface that was tricky and unpredictable, where odd balls nipped in and bounced inconsistently, Rohit laid the foundations for 230 before his bowlers made the target seem bigger than it actually was. For the first time in this tournament, India were put to bat and found themselves in trouble very quickly. With only 40 runs on the board, Chris Woakes and David Willey nailed Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli – for an eight-ball duck – and Shreyas Iyer. Rohit played at a fairly brisk pace, getting to his half-century off 66 balls, even in tough conditions, as he joined Rahul in the middle for the first time since 2020.

Liam Livingstone made a crisp, quick spin, but the two Indians saw him out for an over before using him as a conduit for their own release, taking many boundaries off him. KL Rahul was dismissed for 39 by Willey off the bat, while Jos Buttler, who was equally as aggressive as his opposite number, returned Adil Rashid to bring an end to Rohit’s innings.

He did, however, play 101 balls for a knock of 87, putting India ahead. After helping the team beyond 200 runs, Suryakumar Yadav earned his stripes in the One-Day International format with a strong 47-ball 49. Before bashing England with the ball, Bumrah threw around his bat for a while. With Kuldeep, he added 20 runs for the ninth wicket, frustrating England and helping India reach 229/9 in 50 overs, which was 100 runs above their required total to bowl England out.