Jonny Bairstow scored a crucial century to set up a 31-run win against India at Edgbaston to keep England’s semi-final hopes alive.
England were desperate for a win to give themselves a lead in their semi-final race. They had to play their best game in order to beat the newly No 1-ranked side and the only unbeaten side in the tournament, India.
England brought their A-game with the bat. Despite Mohammed Shami finishing with figures of 5-69, it was Jonny Bairstow (111) and Ben Stokes (79) who stole the show.
England’s innings was subsequent of a powerful start, which saw Jason Roy (66) and Bairstow string together 160 in 22 overs.
After Roy was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav and England passed the 200-run mark, Shami began his destruction by dismissing Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root to reduce England to 277-4. He also added Jos Butler to the mix as England passed the 300-run mark and Chris Woakes later on.
During this time, Stokes was in full swing and hit six fours and three sixes for his 54-ball 79 before Jasprit Bumrah dismissed him.
England managed 337-7 in their 50 overs.
India started slowly. After losing KL Rahul for a nine-ball duck, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scored 146 by 28.2 overs before Kohli lost his wicket for 66.
Sharma managed to score his century, but he was next to fall with his side two runs away from the 200-run mark at the start of the 37th over.
Rishabh Pant helped India to 226 at the start of the 40th over, but with an intent of upping the run rate, lost his wicket.
Hardik Pandya was selfless in his approach and hit 45 off 33 balls but he lost his wicket at a critical stage to reduce India to 267-5.
MS Dhoni (42 off 31 balls) uncharacteristically nudged singles instead of having a full go for much-need boundaries, scoring his first six in the final over.
The game ended with India on 306-5.
Photo: Cricket World Cup/Twitter
