Match Report - England thrash India to setup 1992 re-match versus Pakistan
India's conservative approach meant they only managed a par score, even with that finish by Hardik Pandya. England had scored much slower than expected so far, but they ended up correcting that.
Pitch and Team Changes
Mark Wood’s injury was certainly the biggest issue for England. Wood had looked in great form in this World Cup, bowling fast and that threatening back of a length area that’s hard to get away. Chris Jordan who replaced him can certainly bowl that length but at a lesser pace and with Adelaide’s shorter square boundaries, India could probably manage that. The only other change for England was aggressive Phil Salt in place of injured Dawid Malan.
Adelaide's pitch has turned the most in this World Cup, and it has really long straight boundaries. In addition, England doesn’t have a great record versus leg spin, so I would have loved to see Yuzi Chahal in place of Axar. But it was highly likely since it would force India to bat with Ashwin at 7. With no additional injuries, India made no changes from the game against Zimbabwe and continued with Rishabh Pant in place of Dinesh Karthik.
Since 2021, India have a 5-3 record in T20Is vs England but there’s really not much to read from that considering many of these games have been really close and many English players playing today (Stokes, Woakes, and Salt) did not play those matches.
India’s batting
It’s been well documented that India has been the slowest team to get going this World Cup with an average PowerPlay score of just 36. Adelaide has already seen 180+ scores this World Cup and the pitch looked pretty flat to start out. With England’s long batting line-up, India needed a good start to try and get top about 180. However, England were on the money in the first 6 overs. The moment Virat Kohli hit Chris Woakes for a 6 over cover, the pacers adjusted the length to ensure India had to play on the back foot.
While Rohit had the intent to score quickly, apart from a couple of boundaries he was just unable to connect. With India’s inability (except SKY) to score quickly against spin, England was likely to use Adil Rashid early. In fact, both Rashid and Liam Livingstone delivered superbly. They bowled superb lengths, not allowing India to get under the ball, and then varied the pace occasionally to get some grip off the surface. That’s what got Rashid the wicket of the incredible Suryakumar Yadav.
The inability of Kohli and Pandya to play the sweep on either side of the wicket against the spinners meant they had to stick to taking singles as England continued to be in complete control. As Kohli’s wagon wheel shows, he doesn’t use the part of the ground behind the wicket too much and that’s the difference between a 40-ball 50 as compared to 30-ball 50 that SKY often produces.
At the 15-over mark, India were just 100/3 with Kohli batting 43 off 35 balls. India at this point had managed to hit just 2 sixes despite the short square boundaries. English bowlers executed the plans really well but Hardik Pandya was prepared for what they had to offer. In his last 18 balls, Hardik Pandya scored 50 runs by using the ground dimensions smartly as he hit 4 sixes between square leg and mid-wicket.
At 168, India were in the game, but probably only just. With Sam Curran and Chris Jordan likely to bat at number 9 and 10 for England, India would have ideally wanted 15 more runs. Cricviz’s pitch model (PitchViz) suggested that the par score went up from 160 to 176 during India’s innings - which meant it got easier to bat as the innings went on, so England were definitely at an advantage.
India’s bowling
So far in the World Cup, India had barely varied their bowling distribution in the first 8 overs as Dan Weston pointed out. Today, with Jos Buttler getting off to a good start, they did try something different. Axar Patel bowled 2 overs (4th and 6th) in the Powerplay.
However, Axar bowled at his usual pace (90 ks and higher) and didn’t really use the purchase off the pitch as Rashid did. Jos Buttler hit Axar beautifully with the turnover cover, while Alex Hales swept him in the long leg region. England came out all guns blazing as everyone had expected them to, and that made a target of 169 appear even smaller.
From India’s perspective, the only bowler who had a decent outing was Hardik Pandya. His first 2 overs went for 17 and he bowled really good lengths. However, by the time he came on to bowl his 3rd over, England needed just 46 from 8 overs and they went after him too. The early fours by Buttler and incredible intent by Hales against every bowler ensured India never had a chance for a comeback. Together, they put together England’s highest partnership for any wicket in a T20 World Cup as they strolled to a victory in 16 overs.
India will walk away with the positive performances by Arshdeep and Hardik Pandya but they should really look to re-build a young team without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, and Dinesh Karthik for the next edition in 2024. England prior to this game had scored much slower than most had expected in the World Cup and they ended up correcting for that.
The excellent execution of bowling plans, the form of Adil Rashid, and their never-ending batting will give them a lot of confidence going into that final. They will hope Mark Wood is fit for that game, but Chris Jordan did well anyways. Pakistan have momentum though, having won the last 4 games and the form of Shaheen Shah Afridi is a big positive. Unlike the Semis, it has been a superb World Cup with many close matches, and the Final should be a cracker as well.