The last time India faced England in an ICC tournament in India, the two sides played out a thrilling tie in the 2011 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in Bengaluru.
England went on to lose in the quarter-final to Sri Lanka, while India won the title.
Fast forward 12 years and England are now under the pump in the 2023 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup – the defending champions have lost four of five matches played and sit second from the bottom with two points.
Their biggest defeat so far was against South Africa while the quickest was against Sri Lanka. They were also the stunned by Afghanistan. Their only win this tournament has come so far against Bangladesh.
India however, are at the top of the table, having won five from five, all in dominating fashion against Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand.
In the last three years, India have seen a fair amount of success against the defending champions – both in the three-match series in Pune last year and in England in 2021.
The last time the two teams met at a World Cup though, in the 2019 edition, eventual champions England beat India by 31 runs to end the latter’s unbeaten run in the tournament.
The heroes of that match, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, haven’t had the best tournament in 2023 so far. But if the England batters want to tackle the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who could feature once more with Hardik Pandya’s fitness undetermined as of now, they will look to the way Bairstow, Stokes, Joe Root and captain Jos Buttler negotiate the Indian fast bowlers.
Despite a spell of trouble against the likes of Mitchell Santner in the match against New Zealand, India will not worry too much about England’s spin bowlers in Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid – only Rashid has picked up wickets so far, six across all five matches that he’s played.
Conditions and Pitch Report
The weather in Lucknow begins warm and sunny right at the start of the first innings, but becomes much cooler in the evenings. The drop in temperature will give something for the pacers who will be bowling in the second innings, looking to restrict the chasing team.
South Africa are the only team to have played at this venue during the World Cup and scored in excess of 300. Their pacers were also instrumental in bundling out Australia for a paltry 177, the latter having opted to chase in the second innings.
However, both Australia and Sri Lanka were successful in their run chases at the same ground which indicates that the pitch is manageable for batters in the second innings.
Key Players
India: The England batters have struggled against spin – the Bangladesh and Afghanistan spinners dismissed over half of the England line-up in both the matches. India’s leading spinner, Kuldeep Yadav will be key in the middle overs along with Ravindra Jadeja, who didn’t pick up any wickets against New Zealand but was highly economical.
The Indian team will have to be wary though, of not repeating their mistakes in the field which cost them quite a few runs against New Zealand.
England: The injury to Reece Topley was a significant blow, but what has been England’s backbone, Buttler, Root, Bairstow – their top order – has also not been firing. Dawid Malan is England’s highest run-scorer with 220 runs, but he sits outside the top 10 run-scorers in the tournament.
Root has 175 runs followed by Harry Brook (128) and Bairstow (127). Buttler has 95 runs, a contrast to the blistering form that the keeper-batter has been in over the last four years. The England camp will be hoping that one in the middle order can come through.
Head-to-Head
Last Five Meetings
July 17, 2022, Manchester – India won by five wickets
July 14, 2022, Lord’s – England won by 100 runs
July 12, 2022, the Oval – India won by 10 wickets
March 28, 2021, Pune – India won by seven runs
March 26, 2023, Pune – England won by six wickets
Overall in World Cup
Played: 8
India: 3
England: 4
Tied: 1
No Result: 0
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