3 positives for India from their 2023 World Cup win over England
Will India get through the league stage of the 2023 World Cup unbeaten? They have three games left, and as of now, it seems like no team can dethrone the hosts.
India's latest triumph was an emphatic 100-run hammering of England, who are dead last in the points table and might not even be able to secure Champions Trophy qualification if they don't get back to their best. The Men in Blue were put in a couple of tricky situations but they came out on top admirably.
Rohit Sharma continued his fantastic run with a match-winning 87 to walk away with the Player of the Match award. He wasn't the only encouraging sign for the Men in Blue, with several others contributing to the win.
Here are three positives for India from their 2023 World Cup win over England.
#3 The bowlers turned in a complete display under pressure
Having posted 229 on the board, India needed to bowl well to restrict England. Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow found the boundary a few times in the first few overs, and the Men in Blue needed some inspiration from somewhere.
They got it in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, whose two-wicket burst broke the game open, and they didn't look back from there. Mohammed Shami was deadly throughout the contest, while Mohammed Siraj weathered an indifferent start to be more accurate in his second spell.
The spinners chipped in as well. Ravindra Jadeja kept the England batters guessing and got the odd ball to beat the bat, while Kuldeep Yadav scalped a couple of hugely important wickets.
India needed all five frontline bowlers to step up if they were to defend 229, and they aced the test.
#2 Suryakumar Yadav stepped up to make his first World Cup contribution
Having been run out in his maiden World Cup appearance, Suryakumar Yadav was under the pump heading into the England clash. The odds were stacked against him as well, with India in a precarious position when he came to the crease.
Suryakumar, though, came up with a handy contribution at a difficult juncture. He batted with the tail and made the side's second-highest score, an invaluable 49 that ensured India didn't fail to capitalize on the platform set by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul's partnership.
Suryakumar bridged caution and aggression well and negotiated both the pacers and the spinners on a tricky track. The team management have backed him through thick and thin, and the England clash was vindication in a sense.
#1 India secured their first win while batting first
India's first five wins in the 2023 World Cup were convincing, but they all came while bowling first. They were yet to be tested defending a total, and they were asked to do so by England.
Rohit and Co. may have battled with finding the right tempo in the first innings, with a few key batters throwing their wickets away while playing dangerous shots. In the second essay, however, the Men in Blue got their act together and blew England away.
There was a question mark over whether India would be able to effectively defend totals, but that was emphatically answered on Sunday.