India and South Africa now hold the top two spots on the 2023 ICC World Cup points table, with the former reclaiming the top spot after a 100-run victory against England on Sunday in Lucknow.
Both sides have been by far the most consistent in the present competition –. In contrast, India has mastered the art of chasing, South Africa has focused on amassing large totals and placing scoreboard pressure on their opponents.
After being called to bat by Pakistan, South Africa won by one wicket. They had suffered a humiliating setback the only time they had chased before that match, and confronting such pressure before the knockouts was essential for the Proteas to remain prepared for all possibilities.
Undefeated India go to the top of the #CWC23 points table with their sixth successive win in the tournament ?#INDvENG ?: https://t.co/sLTTWYaH8H pic.twitter.com/ZqjSAJ7NBL
— ICC (@ICC) October 29, 2023
India, on the other hand, had not proven themselves as a batting first side and found themselves in an unknown situation after skipper Jos Buttler chose to field. Moreover, unlike the South Africans on Friday, who nearly threw the game away on many occasions, the Men in Blue could dominate their opponents clinically despite a lacklustre showing with the bat.
We've compiled a list of the top five moments from Sunday's India vs. England match at Lucknow's Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Although the two-paced surface of the Lucknow pitch isn't nearly as conducive to batting as some other locations in the present competition, it will nonetheless challenge both sets of hitters to the limit. Chris Woakes and David Willey, two English new-ball bowlers, not only struck the correct spots early in the innings, but they were also well supported by some superb ringside fielding.
Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer attempted to attack the two pacers, but Woakes broke through Gill's defense with an inswinger that rocked the stumps, and he removed Iyer with a short ball. Meanwhile, Willey bowled Kohli for a duck.
As wickets fell on the other end, the in-form Rohit held his ground and eventually got the help he needed from KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav. Because of these three's tenacity, India rallied from 40/3 to 164/4 and was aiming for a score in the 270–280 range and higher.
In the second over of the session, Rohit had hit Willey for a four and a six off consecutive deliveries; nevertheless, he opted to exercise patience after observing the pitch's actions, which resulted in three early wickets.
But who will come out on top? ?
— ICC (@ICC) October 30, 2023
More #CWC23 stats ? https://t.co/xtfm5AwBEX pic.twitter.com/pgacSeu4ox
He made sure there weren't too many deliveries between the boundaries while also methodically constructing the innings in the middle overs. The "Hitman" was about to reach his second century of the competition when he was bowled by Adil Rashid and holed out to Liam Livingstone at deep midwicket.
In addition to scoring 54 half-centuries in his 100th match as captain of India, Rohit became the fifth Indian player to surpass 18,000 runs in international cricket.
At the beginning of the left-arm seamer's new delivery, Rahul was dismissed while attempting to play a reckless pull shot off Willey. Suryakumar Yadav entered the game. On his ICC World Cup debut, the Mumbai Indians batsman was run out for two when chasing New Zealand, but on Sunday he played considerably better in more difficult batting circumstances.
In his second delivery, Surya would get off to a boundary off Willey. During his 33-run partnership with Rohit for the fifth wicket, he would go on to maintain a healthy strike rate above 100. After Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja were removed in short succession, SKY had to slow down a bit before picking up speed during the penultimate powerplay of the innings.
After Surya was removed from the game, India's runs dried up towards the conclusion of their innings, finishing with 229/9, much below the 250 mark they would have anticipated to attain with SKY in the game. The reigning champions raced to 26/0 in four overs, and things weren't looking good for the Men in Blue, who needed early wickets to effectively defend the small score.
Enter Bumrah, who with two remarkable deliveries altered the course of the match by first giving Root an inside edge off Malan's blade on the stumps and then trapping him LBW plumb in front of the middle.
Arguably the best spell of the tournament ?
— ICC (@ICC) October 30, 2023
How Mohammed Shami dismantled Ben Stokes in a magical spell ?#CWC23 | #INDvENG
With those two deliveries, Bumrah had created an opening, which Shami took advantage of by all-rounder Ben Stokes's good set-up and subsequent 10-ball duck. In his very next delivery, though, Bairstow got a bat-thigh deflection onto the off stump, although in a different over. England was now down to 39/4!
After destroying the English top four, Bumrah and Shami reduced them to 39/4. India has returned to the contest! To guarantee that the Englishmen couldn't escape the game by forming partnerships, left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav (wrist) and Ravindra Jadeja (finger) had to keep the stranglehold on them during the middle overs.
With a beauty of a ball, Kuldeep dismissed England captain Jos Buttler, breaking his defence and rattling the stumps. Later on, he would have Liam Livingstone removed for LBW, bringing England to 98/8 and raising the possibility of an impending crushing loss for the English. When Woakes ultimately chose to give Jadeja the charge, Jadeja would stump the latter.
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