Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Super six! India are table toppers, only unbeaten side in the World Cup for now. Six wins on the trot. England totters, done in by the Powerplay of the Indian arm, the quicks first and then Kuldeep Yadav bringing Diwali lights to the family early. Jos Buttler and his men are wrapped up ….
It all starts with the great Jasprit Bumrah show in full play against England. It’s his over No 2. Takes two back-to-back wickets in the last two balls, bowling Dawid Malan and then trapping Joe Root for a duck. Follows that up the with a maiden. The great Mohammed Shami show follows. Constantly flirts with the off-stump, luring the batter to fall to an edge. Stays tantalisingly close to the wicket almost biting the bat of Ben Stokes.
Keeps up the pressure as Ben Stokes disintegrates in the mind to swing the bat and the stumps light up. Goes for a duck, almost relieved to not be at the receiving end of the Shami-Bumrah ring of death. Breathe, only just. Jasprit Bumrah allows a boundary, and then Mohammed Shami strikes, this time uprooting Jonny Bairstow’s furniture at 14. England well within the Powerplay, 39-4. From 30 for none to 39-4, the collapse engineered by the incredible Indian arm.
A delight to watch the outstanding line Shami maintained through his spell. The misses outside off stump were hairline, not one or twice but one after the other after the other. From the other end, Jaspri Bumrah keeps it simple and straight. No swingers in or out. Just bowls in the blockhole, constantly, consistently, perennially. All talk of spin making all the difference going out of the field for now. It is only about Mohammed Shami’s straight seam and precision backed by Jasprit Bumrah’s bewildering beauties.
Powerplay gets a new meaning, strikes a permanency agreement with Rohit Sharma’s quicks even as the turnsters wait in the wings. Mohammed Shami, especially, is on fire. He has a history of 23 wickets in 15 ODI innings at a 4.9 economy rate against England. This, however, is a different occasion – his night to unleash his armoury and raise the bench issue without speaking a word.
The sensational Bumrah-Shami spell gives way to a wisp of sanity in the England camp with Moeen Ali plugging the wickets leak for a bit, Bumrah taking a break and the wicket seeming to ease, again just a bit.
Over No 13. Spin man Kuldeep Yadav comes in. His challenge? Turn the tables, with a dew wet ball. Starts with a half appeal, continues with regimen bowling, earning respect of the bat. Jos Butler and Moeen Ali show restraint and patience, live to fight in another spell. Breathing returns as does the dew factor. England reach 50 in 86 balls, four wickets down but build from 39-4 to 50-4. Spectators chant for two more quick wickets. After all, the total is just 229, achievable if a partnership gets going.
Chinaman strikes! He turns after a preceding straight over, and how! Kuldeep Yadav ups his turn percentage in the first over from 2.6 to a sudden 7.2, taking Jos Butler by surprise. Dew can take a walk with Jos Butler, at 10. England 52-5 in 15.1 overs. Has next man in Liam Livingstone come with a survival kit? Wait and watch. Kuldeep Yadav keeps up the wristy beauties. The sharp angled inside turn he generates can only be termed divine under the conditions. There is no other way to explain the movement he brings into play. England, meanwhile, move to 75-5. Another wicket becomes the want for India, and the 46,000 fans in the stands.
Mohammed Shami returns. Comes in round the wicket to the southpaw. Scalps Moeen Ali to an edge straight to faultless keeper, K L Rahul! Crowd erupts. No chance for Moeen Ali, who walks at 15. First ball of the return spell and he bowls it right up there. England 81-6 in 23.1 overs. Mohammed Shami has a three-wicket haul already!
All the talk about the biryani and Tundey kebabi in the Nawabi city is forgotten. The unmatched brilliance of Mohammed Shami’s seaming beauties capture the audience body and soul. The best defence in the face of a low total. The match turning into one for the history books and the hall of fame and fables.
No one minds the Chris Woakes aggression that sends Mohammed Shami to the extra cover boundary. Fourteen World Cup games and 49 wickets, a hattrick in 2019 vs Afghanistan. He really makes the noise. Bench him? That’s what you get. Sound and fury signifying everything, including the fact that the Indian bowling has surpassed its batting.
Over No 28. Crowd gets restive. Too long that a wicket has not fallen. Ravindra Jadeja hears the appeal. Strikes, lures Chris Woakes out of the crease. KL Rahul stumps in a jiffy. England 98-7. It’s a wicket maiden for him. The dew wipers come to work with their super-sopper drapes caressing the greens around the wicket, soaking in the dew and excitement. Not that anything is in a mood to pull England out of devastation. Willey-nilly, wait for No 8 begins.
And there it is. Liam Livingstone the victim this time to Kuldeep Yadav’s stump to stump bowling, trapped before the wicket not too good a shot. Reviews, walks. England 98-8. Over No 29.2. England 100 comes in 178 balls but it’s the fall of wickets everyone marvels at. No 9, comes in Mohammed Shami’s kitty again, this time Adil Rashid plays all over and into the wicket. Five-for in the reckoning? Not really, there’s Jasprit Bumrah to finish off the proceedings with his third, Mark Wood for a duck.
The fireworks organised by Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) pale out to the ball-show in the middle. England relieved of agony. Wrap up the defeat with 129, a 100 runs short of target. That’s dominance with the ball. That’s world class. That’s England not having too much 50-over practice. Indeed, the victory has been a stunner of all sorts – better than all others, above even the one against Australia where three ducks and a Virat Kohli (tenacity) has been the name of the game. Against England, the Indian squad fought from the blockhole.
Rohit Sharma plays a captain’s knock of a different kind, in difficult circumstances contributes 87 runs in a low but respectable total on the board, with assistance from a 49-run master play by Suryakumar Yadav towards the end. And then, the bowlers take over. The early kill by Jasprit Bumrah, the dismantling of English bat by an unstoppable, unplayable Mohammed Shami the brilliant turns by Kuldeep Yadav – this is the platinum edge of the rhythm that the Blues are in. Surely, you agree. The story has shifted from the bat to the ball as India move to Mumbai, Wankhede and Sri Lanka.
Also read: World Cup: Adil Rashid becomes third English spinner to scalp 350 international wickets
