England's Mammoth Total Proves Beyond India's Reach

After the Bairstow-Roy show, Stokes joins the party for the host; Rohit’s century, Kohli’s fifth fifty on the trot and Pandya’s cameo not enough

- K.C. Vijaya Kumar

“I am one among the five percent England fans at the ground!,” stated a tongue-in-cheek tweet from a home team follower as a packed Edgbaston buzzed with excitement while the host and India clashed in a key World Cup fixture. In the end, the five percent at the ground had a Sunday to celebrate while a sea of blue lapsed into silence.

England amassed 337 for seven and restricted India to 306 for five. It was India’s first defeat in the current World Cup while Eoin Morgan’s men found a toehold to stay alive, thanks to their 31run win.

Nervous start

India started nervously as Rohit Sharma, on four, edged Jofra Archer but Joe Root dropped it at second slip while K.L. Rahul spooned one back to Chris Woakes. Virat Kohli, walking into thunderous applause, drove Archer and Rohit struck Mark Wood on either side of the pitch and as the partnership developed, the two clattered fours, offLiam Plunkett.

Masters at work

The duo’s mastery became evident as Kohli, wrists and moving feet, flicked Ben Stokes and Rohit cut Adil Rashid. Kohli’s fifth fifty on the trot was etched. Rohit wasn’t too far behind and the two played percentage cricket, picking their fours, running hard and revealing a defensive blade when a delivery demanded respect. There were bursts of exquisite shot-making too, be it Kohli picking his spots on the off-side or Rohit stringing a garland of three fours off Stokes through a pull and two square-drives.