Men in Blue exhibited a great show to record their sixth straight win in the ongoing World Cup tournament. Indian bowlers especially pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah produced awesome performances to successfully defend an average total of 229 and thrashed England by 100 runs, handing the defending champions a fifth straight loss. Shami starred with a four-wicket haul while Bumrah bagged three. England batters yet again failed to deliver well and departed cheaply in a slightly challenging pitch at Ekana Sports City.

Jos Buttler’s decision to bowl first yielded him a good result as Chris Woakes and David Willey picked up three quick wickets. Woakes cleaned up Shubman Gill for 6 while Willey bagged the big fish Virat Kohli for a duck. India’s skipper Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul rebuilt the Indian innings with a fine 91-run partnership.

Willey made the crucial breakthrough by dismissing Rahul (39). Sharma continued with his great form played a captain’s knock of 87 and missed out on hitting a superb century after Liam Livingstone took a brilliant catch near the boundary rope. Suryakumar Yadav played a crucial knock of 49 while others failed to make an impact. For England, Willey scalped three while Woakes and Anil Rashid bagged two each.

In reply, Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan looked to give a solid start for England, adding 30 runs in 4 overs. But Bumrah gave them a double blow by dismissing Malan (16) and Joe Root (0) in consecutive deliveries. Shami then bowled out Ben Stokes (0) and Bairstow (14) to put England on the back foot. For his part, Kuldeep Yadav picked up the important wickets of Buttler (10) and Livingstone (27). India kept taking regular wickets and eventually bowled out England for 129.