World Cup Live Report - England vs India

This is the sort of win that will fuel the belief in the dressing room; that will turn it into wildfire.

India had gone unbeaten, but they got all those five wins chasing. Put in to bat for the first time, they could only make 229.

It was a tough pitch but their captain stood up. Rohit Sharma made 87. The next best score was 49. His control percentage in the end was only 78. He'd constantly lost partners. He'd been up against a bowling attack that was very conscious of hitting the pitch hard, just back of a length and giving no width to make the most of its two-paced nature. It had been a struggle and yet he had 10 fours, 3 sixes and a scoring rate of 5.16 in a game whose overall run rate was only 4.14. That's class. That's a batter rising above the conditions.

Then the defence.

In a five over spell of play where Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami picked up 4 for 9, they made England play 14 false shots. Even the 16 times they were able to middle the ball, it provided only 8 runs. That's too much pressure.

With dew coming in, Kuldeep Yadav produced a ball that turned seven degrees to dismiss Jos Buttler. That ball looked like a computer glitch. It still doesn't make sense.

England are still not out of the tournament, mathematically, but that may not feel like solace anymore.

Forty of Shami's 180 ODI wickets have come in World Cups as well. That's almost 25% of his career tally! Incredible!

Only Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath have more World Cup wickets for India - 44 each - but they needed 23 and 33 innings to get there. Shami's only needed 13!

There's dew now. These are conditions that should negate the spinner. But both Kuldeep and now Jadeja are proving to be unhittable.

Woakes runs past a ball that doesn't really turn too much. Just straightens. And that too barely. He just gave himself so much room coming down the track that he ended up not being able to connect with the loft over cover.

England 98 for 7. They might have been eight down had India seen fit to review a Livingstone lbw in the 22nd over. Welp, they're eight down now. Livingstone is lbw to the same man who should have got him earlier, Kuldeep.

Came on first change for the sixth over.

Struck in his second over, the 8th of the innings to dismiss Ben Stokes.

Took out Bairstow in his third over, the 10th of the innings

This was his fourth over, he was taken off after this.

Came back in the 24th over and broke through first ball. What a day he's having.

Shami might well have sealed his place in the XI ahead of Siraj when Hardik is back fit

England's last three boundaries tell a story.

There was one at 8.6, then a long wait, then one at 16.6, then a long wait, then one at 21.4.

No release. No easy put-aways.

Even so defending 229 is about taking wickets so Rohit turns back to one of his big two quicks and Mohammed Shami immediately delivers. Moeen Ali gone first ball of his new spell.

Matt Roller says: Livingstone's 34 ball-innings right now is already England's 10th longest by a batter in this World Cup.

Kuldeep Yadav strikes on his home ground and its the sweetest kind of wicket too.

He had Jos Buttler playing so far away from the ball that the wicket actually looks like a computer game glitch.

Seriously, it still doesn't make sense.

If I heard the broadcast right, there was 2.6 degrees of turn on average in his first over. This one ball turned 7.2 degrees.

Remember the last time India played England in a World Cup match?

They got a below par score then too.

And they lost without taking a single wicket. Jasprit Bumrah was injured then.

This time they had Bumrah fit. And look what's happened. Obviously this is a tougher pitch than that one in Adelaide and the game is FAAAAR from over, but India need a bowler like him to lift them and when he was off injured, they just looked less than themselves. It's why they took such caution in bringing him back. They knew this World Cup was crucial and having him playing in it was crucial.

Back injuries can derail fast bowlers' careers. Sometimes they come back and they never really have the confidence in their bodies to go all out like they did before. No sign of that doubt in Bumrah and the way he's running in. Special.

In that five over spell of play where Bumrah and Mohammed Shami picked up 4 for 9, they made England play 14 false shots. Even the 16 times they were able to middle the ball, it provided only 8 runs. That's too much pressure. That's why Stokes, Malan and Bairstow were all dismissed going so hard at the ball.

Shami on a hat-trick too. Doesn't come off. But India are on top. The little bit of movement under lights, in the cooler evening air, has been weaponised thanks to their accuracy. Just look at the way the wickets have fallen.

Malan bowled, Root lbw, Stokes bowled, Bairstow bowled.

This is basically the India vs Australia game. Australia had India three down pretty quick in a chase of 200-odd before Kohli and Rahul broke them. England need two batters to see off this testing period and then cash in on the change bowlers. Mohammed Siraj was experiencing discomfort earlier. But he's back bowling now.

We have an incredible game on our hands.

Also, Shami's five wickets against New Zealand and this performance here. Weigh that against Siraj leading the Indian attack in the absence of Bumrah and his six wickets in the Asia Cup final. Who will you pick when Hardik Pandya is fit again?

Jasprit Bumrah's in the seventh over, a maiden

The first ball there was a hat-trick ball and Bumrah kept the stumps in play. The back of a length - his staple length - straightened from the angle over the wicket to the right-hander and rapped Jonny Bairstow on the back pad. It was too high.

During the course of that over though, Bairstow started middling a few balls, and immediately Bumrah asked his second slip to come over to short cover so that he could build dot ball pressure. More evidence that he seeks control, not wickets.

AND SHAMI BOWLS STOKES. LUCKNOW EXPLODES.

12 balls, no runs, one BIG wicket. The cooler evening air, the moister in there, is helping the ball move a bit more than in the afternoon.

There were 46,000 people at Ekana stadium as of 6pm and they have all found their voice.

There's a loud "wwhooooooaaaaa" as Mohammed Shami runs into the batter.

Followed by a loud "ooooohhhhhh" when the ball hits Ben Stokes' pads and bounces up.

Mohammed Siraj always strives for wickets and because of that he often pitches the ball way fuller than his new-ball partner Jasprit Bumrah.

In this World Cup, in the first powerplay, Siraj has bowled 29 balls on a full length. They have cost him 40 runs. And they've not got him a single wicket.

Bumrah by comparison has only gone full 20 times for just seven runs. He doesn't search for wickets. He just camps on that unhittable spot. One-hundred and eleven of Bumrah's deliveries in the first powerplay are either a good length or shorter. And that's why his economy rate in this phase of play is 2.90. He ties batters down with that length that they can't drive, or cut, or pull, as Dawid Malan finds out in the fifth over

And he's struck again. Joe Root gone for a golden duck. That ball was full because its part of the plan. Root has history with falling over to balls pitched up and targeting his pads. All that skill and presence of mind? This guy is a joke of a fast bowler. Unbelievable.

India had to get through 57 deliveries with their tail exposed and Jasprit Bumrah has made sure they do that with an innings of 16 off 25.

Rohit Sharma held it all together for India with his 87 on a two-paced pitch. But there was dew when England trained last evening and if it comes in again, conditions will get better to bat in the chase.

England came into this game with just one win in five games. But everything they did today was top draw. Chris Woakes (9-1-33-2) and David Willey (10-2-45-3) piled on dot-ball pressure in the powerplay. Jos Buttler's use of his spinners, specifically Adil Rashid (10-0-35-2), was near perfect. He was the one who took out Rohit, and Ravindra Jadeja too, to open up India's tail and drag them down from a potential 260 to 229.

He was playing a little gem.

He had seen third and backward point up inside the circle

And he wanted to access the boundary over their heads. Twice.

First time he didn't connect. Second time he got caught at the off side sweeper.

Scoring behind the wicket is harder on slow/two-paced pitches like this one in Lucknow. It's much easier on true surfaces. Even so, Surya's managed to do it again.

Matt Roller from the ground: Mark Wood took his only T20 five-for at this ground at the start of April

And he seemed to have thrived from the pitch's skiddy, low bounce - especially in comparison to the rest of the tournament, when he has gone the distance on bouncier pitches. England have opened an end up, exposing India's long tail, and Wood will fancy a dart at running through them in the final seven overs.

These are the England legspinner's last three overs. He took out Rohit Sharma in the 37th

He's taken out Ravindra Jadeja in the 41st.

Now India have to play out 57 balls with four No. 11s.

More good work from Jos Butter the captain as he brings in his fastest bowler for the 42nd over.

Can't fault Mohammed Shami for not wanting to get in line with Wood's 90mph deliveries. Bottom edge through to the keeper

Adil Rashid takes out the India captain. That's a huuuge blow with 13 overs still left and pretty much four No. 11s waiting

It's been a tough innings from Rohit Sharma. He made 87. The next highest score was 39.

No batter had really felt set on this pitch, because largely, its not coming onto the bat, but out of the blue, a couple just rush them. A couple bounce more. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer fell to bounce. Shubman Gill got done by seam movement. KL Rahul by getting carried away.

Rohit had been there watching all of this and for the longest time he refused to make those same mistakes. By what he's had to deal with in terms of the conditions and the way England have made the most of them, this has been far from his most fluent innings. But in time, he may come to recognise it with a certain fondness.

His control percentage in the end was only 78. He'd constantly lost partners. He'd been up against a bowling attack that was very conscious of hitting the pitch hard, just back of a length and giving no width to make the most of its two-paced nature. It had been a struggle and yet he had 10 fours, 3 sixes and a scoring rate of 5.16 in a game whose overall run rate was only 4 or so. That's class. That's a batter rising above the conditions.

I think he managed that with a little adjustment at the crease - slowing his backlift and playing for the ball not coming onto his bat. It might explain how Mark Wood occasionally rushed him with pace and bounce. He was slow into those shots because he needed to be slightly slower into all the other shots to get his runs today.

He's 24 off 21 in a game where runs are coming at less than five an over.

He's hit three fours. Two of those are behind square.

This is a slow pitch which prevents batters from accessing those areas.

Just SKY things. Every so often, he decides to play the game solely on his terms

Bizarre stuff as Rahul charges out to David Willey as soon as he's back in the attack for the 31st over. And the hoick over the leg side goes completely awry. Straight up and then straight down into mid-on's hands.

England made the play to bring back the fast bowler to break this stand. Rahul obliges. He's usually better in tune with the flow of a ODI game.

The partnership was going well - 91 off 110. They had collected six boundaries in the last six overs. From being behind in the game for so long, they were just starting to make a play, and then this happened.

2025 Champions Trophy qualification at stake during ODI World Cup. Nagraj Gollapudi and Matt Roller have the story

India targeting Livingstone now. This was him in the 25th over, KL Rahul took a risk and swept him off the straight

This is Livingstone in the 27th over, Rohit Sharma reverse sweeps him, he rarely reverse sweeps.

The 29th over brings more runs, Rohit charging out of his crease twice. That he does often to all bowlers.

Matt Roller from the ground: England have looked a completely different side today: they’ve been on it from the start, sharp in the field and, as of the 24th over, are yet to concede an extra. It might be an oversimplification but I do wonder how much they have benefitted from the crowd and the sense of occasion, with around 50,000 fans at the Ekana in Lucknow.

Across England’s first five games, venues have been at barely 20% of capacity at the start, with lower interest in tickets for fixtures not involving India and the afternoon sunshine to contend with. Particularly for the players who have toured India several times before and featured in the IPL, it must be an unusual, demotivating experience to play in front of empty seats – albeit one they experienced during the Covid era.

He was 0 off 7. Then 17 off 11. India ran into trouble at that point. Losing Gill and Kohli for not a lot of runs.

England's seamers - Woakes and Willey at the start and now Wood at 90 mph - have made the most of a two-paced pitch, hitting it as hard as they can, just back of a length, and never giving the drive ball, or the one that can be easily cut or pulled.

Rohit understood that. He dropped anchor instead.

He was 33 off 45. Now he's 57 off 69 with a control percentage of just 76. That shows you its been a struggle. It also shows you that he hasn't given up.

This is more or less the game India weren't prepared for in 2019. Too few runs on the board, too many overs to play, and the middle order in like the deer in the headlights.

The change right now is essentially the result of one man. KL Rahul. He grew up being an opener. So he knows what to do when the ball is getting up to some - or rather what not to do in order to survive first and by doing so set yourself up to thrive.

Putting him in the middle order also accentuates his other strength - playing spin bowling. So long as he's there, and Rohit - who has made 44 of India's 72 runs at the 20th over - is at the other end, there won't be any panic.

If this stand is broken, then that brings Suryakumar Yadav in and for all his talent he hasn't cracked ODIs yet; averages 26. Then there's Ravindra Jadeja, who last hit an ODI fifty in December 2020 and then its the bowlers.

Hints of movement off the seam.

Plenty of dot balls.

No release on offer.

Woakes and Willey have been SPECTACULAR here.

India were running at them early on, but they never panicked.

They held to their plan. To pull the length back and hit the pitch hard.

And with the pitch being two paced, with their own skill in bowling wobble-seam balls, they've managed to extract just enough to consistently trouble India.

Iyer 4 off 15, having just been beaten by one nipping away off the seam, then nicking one which fell short of first slip, faces up to a short ball and the two-paced nature of the pitch strikes. It's on him too quickly. It cramps him for room too. That's a place from which you can't control the pull shot.

Outside edge flying over the slips gets India's first boundary in seven overs.

England limit them to just 35 runs in the first powerplay. That's their best work in this phase of the game at this World Cup, comfortably beating the 56 for 2 against Sri Lanka

Willey in the 5th over

Woakes in the 6th over

Willey in the 7th over

Two balls before Kohli charged down the track to hit over mid-off and failed, he smacked an on the up cover drive right off the middle of the bat. Malan at short cover dived to his left and stopped it one handed. It was brilliant work. And having kept Kohli on strike - on 0 off 8 - having built all that dot ball pressure, Willey gets the pay-off. Stokes as soon as he took the catch pointed to Malan as if to say that was your wicket too. Or maybe he was pointing to Jos Buttler, the under-fire captain. Anyway, it was a lovely spell of play. Lucknow goes silent.

In almost every over so far - there's been six - India have made attempts to come down the track.

Even the brand new ball had dribbled through to the keeper in Chris Woakes' first over.

England are getting movement, early on it was swing, now they've gone wobble seam, and that variation appears to be getting some purchase.

Gill got bowled to seam movement. Kohli got beaten to seam movement. (And there was bounce too)

To counter that, India's batters are pushing to come down the wicket. Because there's no pace for them to worry about. Even if the fast bowlers go short suddenly, they should be able to adjust. It's just the odd bit of seam movement and they want to get on top of that by advancing at the bowlers.

Looked wobble-seam. The ball pitching on a good length. Gill going for the drive on the up and down the ground. The movement into him surprises him and the stumps are a mess.

"Stony silence for the wicket," says Matt Roller from the ground, "Followed by a roars as the crowd see Kohli walking out. Announced as 'The King, Virat Kohli' on the PA"

The second best on that list right now is David Warner, with 42 aggressive shots attempted. That number was down at 29 before the chaos of the 771-run game last night.

Before that game, Rohit's 45 aggressive responses from just four innings was playing de Kock's 36 aggressive responses from as many as six innings. That wass a VERY healthy lead.

Rohit's still ahead and he might open it up further. But for now, David Willey keeps him quiet. Maiden to start the game.

Take two goes Rohit's way. 0 (7) turns into 17 (11)

Massive roar in Lucknow as the crowd realises they'll see the India batters fronting up first up. They haven't batted first in any of the five matches they've played so far in this World Cup.

Jos Buttler says England's decision to bowl is a gut decision. Unchanged team from the one that got beat by Sri Lanka. India are unchanged too. Hardik Pandya still recovering from his ankle injury.

Rohit Sharma says they wanted to bat first. He says they've had a good time batting second, but this looks like a good pitch to him, new surface after its been relaid. He says its played quite nice and that his team doesn't mind batting first.

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England: 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt/wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood.

PS - You can watch the entire England vs India World Cup match LIVE on ESPN+ if you're in the USA. Just click here.

Also, ball-by-ball commentary of the match is available in Hindi and in Tamil too

Matt Roller takes a look at the England captain's performance at this World Cup.

All too often, he has walked in with England already in trouble: at 68 for 3 against both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and at 38 for 4 against South Africa. He has attempted to launch counterattacks, but has not lasted long enough to change the tide. That Buttler has only batted at No. 4 three times since the 2019 final - a role which would enable him to set games up - is a damning reflection on England's long-term planning.

Andrew Fidel Fernando has penned a classic: Kohli sits now on 48 centuries, one short of Tendulkar. If cricket is a religion in India, Kohli is decidedly not its god. That position has been filled and Kohli has never had those ambitions anyway. He has been human. Has tried to be the best of humans, the most productive of humans, and cricket-wise the most aggressive of humans even.

This, unapologetically, is who he has always been. Always revelled in being.