World Cup 2019: Rohit's ton fails to make India shine against England
England opener Jonny Bairstow’s quick century on Sunday (June 30) helped the hosts beat India in their World Cup encounter by 31 runs and stay alive for the semi-finals.
Bairstow (111) put on a 160-run opening partnership with Jason Roy (66), who had come out of injury, to help England post a total of 337 in 50 overs at Birmingham’s Edgbaston stadium.
Chasing the target, India fell short of 31 runs despite Rohit Sharma’s 102 — his third century in this World Cup — and captain Virat Kohli’s 66 — his fifth fifty in the tournament.
Both India and England will need another win to seal a semi-final berth. A loss on Sunday (June 30) could have snuffed out England’s chances who managed to beat India for the first in a World Cup since 1992.
The loss also broke India’s unbeaten record in this World Cup as it managed to score only 306/5 and fell to a tight bowling by England pacers.
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Rohit Sharma and Kohli built a stable partnership in the middle overs, after Chris Woakes removed struggling part-time opener KL Rahul for a duck in the third over.
At one point, young blazers Hardik Pandya (45) and Rishabh Pant (32), who made his World Cup debut, looked like they could take India through, finding boundaries at regular intervals. However, with over 150 to chase in around 15 overs, the two succumbed to pressure.
MS Dhoni (42) and Kedar Jadhav (12) took India till the 50th over, but were forced to struggle, and many times, failed to connect or score big. As a consolation, Dhoni hit the lone six for India in the last over.
Earlier, England had set India a target of 338 runs on a solid foundation built by the openers. Joe Root (44) and Ben Stokes (79) hit the spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (0/88) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/72) all round the park.
However, Mohammed Shami struck repeated blows on the English with a five-wicket haul that restricted them to below 350.
Shami dismissed Woakes for six runs and captain Eoin Morgan for 1. He also sent back Jos Buttler, Joe Root and centurion Bairstow.
Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav picked one wicket each while Bumrah bowled a tight spell, giving 44 runs off 10 overs in a high scoring match.
Despite quick falling of wickets in the last few overs, England batsmen were in no mood to relent and showered boundaries all around the Edgbaston, posting a total that India found impossible to chase.
