ODI World Cup digest: India hand out a drubbing in front of 100,000 plus; two teams lose captains

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The game that always promises and rarely delivers came and went once more, promising plenty at various stages, and ultimately delivering what a blue mass of humanity had come to see: a crushing India win. A stunning middle-overs collapse from Pakistan which had them lose eight wickets for 36 runs turned what should have been an enthralling run chase into a dull formality. Each India bowler played a part in their own way, five different players splitting the ten Pakistan wickets evenly.

With Pakistan folding for 191, India - spearheaded by captain Rohit Sharma - dazzled and sizzled, though really, it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. Pakistan had already checked out of this game, and were bystanders as India romped home in front of around 100,000 supporters to go to pole position in World Cup race for which they look favourites.

Jasprit Bumrah doesn't go searching for wickets but on Saturday he found one that will be talked about for years and years. It was an offcutter. But also more. In the same way that the Mona Lisa is a painting but also more.

Bumrah pretty much bent time with that ball. Or at least the batter's perspective of it. And this was Mohammad Rizwan at the crease. Well set. Fresh off a match-winning century that had shepherded the highest-ever chase in the men's ODI World Cup. It needed something special to dislodge him. And Bumrah spent the whole over cooking it up.

The Narendra Modi Stadium is built to be imposing, a nod to muscular exhibitionism and a symbol of Indian cricket's pole position in the sport. It beats the Melbourne Cricket Ground by at least 20,000 seats, and though not as tall and colosseum-like as the MCG, its vastness makes it feel as gladiatorial. And it's safe to say that cricket has never seen as many blue jerseys at a venue as it did today.

Every inch of this stadium was packed for the last IPL final despite it being pushed by a day on account of rain but never had this ground hosted an India match of this magnitude. The previous ODI games here were played during the Covid era, and the Test match during Border-Gavaskar Trophy, despite the pomp of two prime ministers making a grandstand appearance, was thinly attended. So here it was, the real deal, the day this stadium you hope was built for, to be bathed in cacophonous blue. And when the moments came, it produced the noise so quintessentially organic to the Indian cricket experience.

Much like gap year students, England left Dharamsala having found themselves, arriving in the sprawling metropolis of Delhi on Wednesday with a self-regard more in step with their white-ball dominance over the last eight years.

Their "crisis" lasted all of five days. A nine-wicket battering at the hands of New Zealand led to much introspection, but an equally dominant victory over Bangladesh has eased more than just Net Run Rate woes.

Reece Topley regarded the result as "a step in the right direction", one he facilitated with 4 for 43 after being drafted in to replace Moeen Ali. Throw in strong starts from Dawid Malan and Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow ticking and Mark Wood back up to speed, and things are beginning to look more balanced and settled for the defending champions.

England (possible) 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley

Afghanistan (possible) 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 5 Azmatullah Oarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Najibullah Zadran, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

By the time Rashid Khan finally came into the attack to bowl the 15th over, India were 125 for 0. He dismissed both openers, having Ishan Kishan caught at cover and bowling Rohit after being taken for three consecutive boundaries, but those wickets served only to underline the peculiarity: why did Afghanistan use five other bowlers before Rashid?

It was the latest installment in Rashid's unusual and underwhelming World Cup career, which is now 11 matches old. At 25, he already holds elite status as a white-ball bowler: at some stage next year, he will overtake Dwayne Bravo as the leading wicket-taker in T20 history. And yet, that success has generally eluded him in 50-over cricket.