Revisiting the last 5 India-England matches in men's ODI World Cups
India and England are set to battle it out in the 2023 World Cup at Lucknow on October 28. Both teams have had contrasting results in the first half of the round-robin stage. While the hosts have won all five of their games, England have won just one of their five fixtures so far.
India are second on the table due to an inferior net run rate to South Africa, who have also played one game extra. On the other hand, the Three Lions are second last on the table and could even enter their game with India as the bottom-placed team if the Netherlands beat Bangladesh today.
Both teams have a rich history in cricket. While India have won two ODI World Cups, England won their first and only ODI World Cup in the 2019 edition. They have met each other eight times in the quadrennial tournament, with England leading the head-to-head 4-3 (one match was tied).
On that note, let's revisit the last five India vs England games in the ODI World Cups.
#1 IND vs ENG - 2019 WC, Birmingham
On their way to the 2019 World Cup triumph, England beat India by 31 runs. This was the only match that India lost in the league stage, as they finished as table-toppers.
Jonny Bairstow's 111 was supported well by opening partner Jason Roy's 66 and Joe Root's 44. Ben Stokes smashed a quickfire 79 to take his side to a mammoth total of 337. Mohammad Shami picked up a fifer.
In response, Rohit Sharma scored 102 before perishing to Chris Woakes. The middle order contributed some healthy runs, but the Men in Blue were always behind the eight ball and fell 32 runs short of the 338-run target.
#2 IND vs ENG - 2011 WC, Bangalore
The second-most recent meeting between these teams was in the 2011 World Cup, which was won by India. This match was tied, as both teams scored exactly 338 runs in what was an absolute run-fest at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Sachin Tendulkar scored 120 runs in the first innings after captain MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first. Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh both scored half-centuries as India were bowled out for 338 runs with one ball left to play. Tim Bresnan registered his career-best figures of 5/48.
Andrew Strauss scored his highest score in ODIs, i.e., 158, in the run chase. Despite his and Ian Bell's best efforts, the Three Lions fell agonizingly short of what would have been an iconic run chase.
#3 IND vs ENG - 2003 WC, Durban
The last time India beat England in the ODI World Cup was 20 years ago. India registered a massive 82-run victory in the Pool A match of the 2003 World Cup that was hosted by South Africa.
Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid's half-centuries powered their nation to a total of 250 runs, which was a decent score back then. Andrew Flintoff picked up two wickets and conceded just 15 runs in his quota of ten overs, which included two maidens.
Ashish Nehra was on fire in the second innings as he rattled the top-order batters. He scalped six wickets while giving away just 23 runs in ten overs. Flintoff scored 64 off 73 runs, but it went in vain, as none of the other batters showed any fight as they were bowled out for 168 runs.
#4 IND vs ENG - 1999 WC, Birmingham
The Men in Blue got the better of the Three Lions in the 1999 World Cup, which was won by Australia. The hosts had a tournament to forget as they bowed out after winning just two games in the group stage.
Rahul Dravid scored a slow but steady 53 off 82 balls. The Mohammad Azharuddin-led side huffed and puffed their way to 232, thanks to valuable contributions from Sourav Ganguly and Ajay Jadeja.
Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe took time to settle in but were dismissed in their 30s. It was a complete performance from the Indian bowling unit, as four bowlers picked up two or more wickets, restricting England to a total of 169. Ganguly was the player of the match, as he picked up three wickets for 27 runs in eight overs.
#5 IND vs ENG - 1992 WC, Perth
India and England met in the 1992 Benson Hedges World Cup in Australia. England finished the tournament as runners-up to Pakistan. On the other hand, the subcontinental side lost five of their eight round-robin games and were knocked out early.
Graham Gooch's 51 and Robin Smith's 91 meant that the batting side would post a healthy score of 236/9 in the first innings. Ravi Shastri broke the 110-run partnership of Gooch and Smith before top-scoring for his side in the second innings.
Shastri scored 57 off 112 deliveries before being run out. Kris Srikkanth and Sachin Tendulkar each formed 63-run partnerships with Shastri. Subroto Banerjee played an unbeaten cameo of 25 off just 16 balls, but it was a little too late as his side fell ten runs short of the target.