For 50 overs in the field England, bowling with venom and fielding with spirit and commitment, snapped and crackled. And then they popped. Chasing 230, their brittle batting was ruthlessly exposed by outstanding opponents and they were bowled out for just 129. Six games in, India retain their 100% record and return to the top of the group; England remain rock bottom.
Although in the end the winning margin, precisely 100, was extremely comfortable, England had India worried for a while, which in the circumstances was something of a triumph. Four overs into their innings, with the openers looking solid and their target achievable, this spectacular, heaving stadium on the outskirts of Lucknow had fallen silent. Twenty minutes later it was a riot of noise once again, fans bellowing and blowing into their plastic trumpets as, like Jericho, England’s defences came tumbling down.
Over the past few weeks this team have made a nasty habit of self-combustion but on this occasion they were simply outplayed. Not every defeat, even those on this scale, is a humiliation, though this tournament has certainly become one, and there was a miserable familiarity to their innings as it faltered and failed.
Dawid Malan was first to go, edging into his stumps. Joe Root lasted one ball, which arrowed low into his pads. The magnificent Jasprit Bumrah was the bowler on both occasions, and if Malan was a little unlucky, Root was extraordinarily so to have to deal with such a delivery first up. The bat Root waved in annoyance when his review failed – despite the merest hint of a tremor on UltraEdge, which anyway started before the ball reached him – was no more useful than the one he had just wafted at the ball.
Enter Ben Stokes. There was a rebuilding job to do here and, given the team’s position, an achievable run rate and a brilliant bowling attack at their undeniable best, some circumspection seemed advisable. Stokes, so often a wonderful judge of moments and situations, seemed just the man for the task. At least until his second delivery, at which he charged wildly, and he proceeded to look desperately uncomfortable for the remainder of his brief time at the crease – harassed constantly by Bumrah and Mohammed Shami – before he played a ludicrous sideswipe at a straight one from the latter and became the first of his four victims. It was mindless batting, in this or any context; Stokes has been right about one thing at this World Cup: he’s not the messiah. He’s a very naughty boy.
From 30 without loss England careered to 39 for four, but they are never beaten while Jos Buttler is at the crease. Sadly at this World Cup that has never been very long. He faced 23 balls here, his longest innings since their opening game, and the last of them was a wonder ball from Kuldeep Yadav that dipped and turned like England’s reputation before rerouting towards middle stump. From there, India’s sixth successive win was a formality.
England at least produced half a good performance, which has to count as progress. Their bowlers were unrelenting, their fielding full of commitment and quality. The moment that summed up their display in the field came in the seventh over, precisely the point during their two previous games when after promising starts England fell apart. This time Virat Kohli attempted to drive David Willey through cover only for Malan to dive to his left and perfectly pouch the bouncing ball. Four runs became none, and two balls later Kohli scuffed straight to Stokes at mid-off, dismissed for a nine-ball duck having faced only Willey.
Shubman Gill had already gone for nine, beautifully bowled through the gate by Chris Woakes. Once dependable, Woakes had transmogrified into a miserable liability in the opening three weeks of this tournament, but here he was recognisably himself again and in the 12th over Shreyas Iyer tried to pull a ball angled into his body and top-edged to mid-on. In all Woakes bowled a seven-over opening spell that went for just 23 runs, a startling improvement on his first three World Cup games.
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Had Rohit Sharma not reviewed an lbw decision when on 33 things might have been different (though given the ball was always heading down the leg side, it would have been quite the oversight). India’s captain went on to score another 54 off 52 to steady a briefly listing ship, assisted by KL Rahul (39 off 58) and Suryakumar Yadav, who fell one short of a half‑century having faced 47.
Bizarrely, England have still not been eliminated from this competition and even after the guillotine falls they will have plenty of motivation for their three remaining fixtures. It emerged before the game that the qualification process for the next Champions Trophy had been changed – in 2021, without a whisper of public announcement – so that only the top seven teams in this tournament’s group stage (or eight, should the hosts, Pakistan, be among the seven) would be involved. Amazingly, though the England and Wales Cricket Board had been notified at the time, nobody in the England camp had any idea. Their players might not mind a bit of time off in early 2025 but their absence would be an embarrassment, and they have had enough of those of late.
