The most highly anticipated game of the tournament took place 2 days ago in Edgbaston where the two favorites locked horns, both having their own points to prove. England were in a spot of bother as they had lost 2 of their previous encounters. The players looked dejected in the change rooms and Eoin Morgan’s change of tone at the press conference was for everyone to see.
India, on the other hand looked in great nick, having been unbeaten in the tournament. England batted first on what looked like a belter of a track. Jason Roy finding his spot back in the side looked mighty impressive in his innings of 66 off 57. But his performance was overshadowed by his opening partner Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow’s 111 was a reply to all the stuff that was written and said about him leading up to the game. He looked in ferocious touch as he bludgeoned the Indian attack for 10 fours and 6 sixes. India were pulling things back towards the end (overs 30-40), but Ben Stokes’ 4th consecutive half century made it a solid first innings for England.
338 was going to be a stiff target. Virat would feel it was 15-20 runs too many. With the pitch slowing down a touch, boundaries were hard to come-by. India lost Rahul early, and their innings never really got momentum. Virat and Rohit tried to take the game deep, with the latter getting to his 3rd 100 of the world cup. Both got out in crunch situations, which later cost them the game. Hardik Pandya tried to play catch-up with the required run rate, only to fall to Liam Plunkett in the deep. The response from Dhoni and Kedar towards the end was extremely surprising. Their batting sent shock waves in the commentary box, as there was no intent shown by either of the two. England cruised to a comfortable 31 run victory, and kept themselves alive for the semis.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 