ICC World Cup 2019, road to semi-final: England

England began their World Cup 2019 campaign as one of the favorites. The lineup showed enough promise to clinch the first World Cup for the country in front of the home crowd. But defeats against teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka made their way to semi-final tough. They had to wait till their last match to secure a semi-final spot.

Now England once again look as terrific as ever to give a tough fight to mighty Australia in the second semi-final on July 11.

The Oval, London, May 30: Beat South Africa by 104 runs

Four half-centuries by England’s top-order batsmen Jason Roy (54), Joe Root (51), Eoin Morgan (57), and Jonny Bairstow (89) helped England to post a daunting 311/8 in the World Cup 2019 opener against South Africa. Lungi Ngidi took three wickets while Imran Tahir and Kagiso Rabada scalped two each.

Quinton de Kock (68) and later Rassie van der Dussen (50) tried to put up some resistance, but the middle order collapse made the Proteas surrender for 207 runs in 39.5 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 7-1-27-3.

Trent Bridge, Nottingham, June 3: Lost to Pakistan by 14 runs

A high scoring and thrilling contest between Pakistan and the hosts saw Pakistan putting up 348/8 batting first. Babar Azam (63), Mohammad Hafeez (84), and Sarfaraz Ahmed (55) were the leading scorers. Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali took three wickets each but nothing could stop Pakistan rampage.

Two centuries from Joe Root (107) and Jos Buttler (103) went in vain as the rest of the lineup failed. Wahab Riaz took three wickets, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Amir picked up two apiece. The brilliant death over bowling ended England’s innings on 334/9. This was the first upset of the tournament as nothing went according to the predictions.

Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff, June 8 : Beat Bangladesh by 106 runs

Yet another 300+ total by England and this time Jason Roy led the innings. He scored 153 and was accompanied by Jonny Bairstow (51) and Jos Buttler (64) were instrumental in posting 386/6 on board. Mohammad Saifuddin took two wickets.

In reply, Shakib Al Hasan scored 121 runs but hardly got any support. The second highest scorer for Bangladesh was Mushfiqur Rahim with 44 runs. Archer and Stokes took three wickets each to end Bangladesh innings on 180.

Hampshire Bowl, Southampton, June 14: Beat West Indies by 8 wickets

Batting first West Indies batting lineup almost collapsed as Nicholas Pooran Pooran scored a 78-ball 63 as a sole fighter. Chris Gayle (36) and Shimron Hetmyer (39) were the other contributors. Jofra Archer and Mark Wood scalped three each.

Chasing 212 was never a tough task for England’s world famous batting order. Joe Root played the role of a perfect all-rounder as he produced a 94-ball 100 as well after scalping two wickets. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes added 45 and 40 runs respectively. The chase was completed within 34^th over for the loss of two wickets.

Old Trafford, Manchester, June 18: Beat Afghanistan by 150 runs

England tracks were expected to deliver a number of high scoring games in this World Cup. This time the match between England and Afghanistan saw almost 650 runs being scored at Old Trafford. England missed Jason Roy this time following an injury. Jonny Bairstow’s 99-ball 90 set the momentum for Eoin Morgan’s 148 off 71 balls. He hit 17 sixes to collect more than a hundred runs through sixes. Root added 88 runs. England innings finally ended on 397/6.

Even after losing an early wicket Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah tried to build a partnership in reply. Naib scored 37 and Shah added 76 runs. Hashmatullah Shahidi put an effort to stabilize the innings with 76 off 100. Later Asghar Afghan scored a quick 44 but the target was almost impossible to chase down and Afghanistan fell short of 150 runs. Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid took three wickets each whereas Mark wood managed two.

Headingley, Leeds, June 21: Lost to Sri Lanka by 20 runs

Opting to bat first, Avishka Fernando scored a 49 off 39 after losing two openers within 3^rd over. Then Kusal Mendis (46) and Angelo Mathews (85* off 115) carried the innings to end Sri Lankan innings with a decent 232/9. Jofra Archer and Mark Wood were instrumental with three scalps each. For England batsmen, it was not a tough target. But what followed was surprising.

Bairstow was gone for a golden duck and James Vince followed him in the 7^th over. Joe Root scored 57 off 89 and once he was gone Ben Stokes tried to complete the chase. But a collapse at the lower order made England finally lose the match by 20 runs. Stokes remained not out with 82 off 89. The veteran Lasith Malinga did the unbelievable for Sri Lanka and kept their semi-final dream alive. He provided the early breakthroughs by picking up the two openers and then returned to dismiss dangerous Root and Buttler. His brilliant spell of 10-1-43-4 was well supported by Dhananjaya de Silva (3/32 in 8 overs) and Isuru Udana (2/41 in 8 overs).

Lord’s, London, June 25: Lost to Australia by 64 runs

Australian openers carried on their good form to add 123 runs for the first wicket. David Warner scored 53 runs and became the first batsman to cross the 500 runs in this World Cup. Aaron Finch (100) registered his second century of the tournament.  Alex Carey was effective at the end with unbeaten 38 off 27 balls. The final score put up by Australia was 285/7. Woakes took two wickets.

During the chase, James Vince was gone on the 2nd ball and with 53/ 4 on board quickly slipping away. Ben Stokes (89) and Jos Buttler (25) tried to build a partnership and added 71 runs. But it was never enough as most of the top order batsmen failed to contribute. Jason Behrendorff, on the other hand, registered his first five-wicket haul. He scalped the openers first and then came back to run through the lower order. Mitchell Starc finished with 8.4-1-43-4.  Whereas with their 6th win, Australia secured their semi-final spot, England started losing the favorites tag.

Edgbaston, Birmingham, June 30: Beat India by 31 runs

This was an important match, especially for Pakistan and Bangladesh. India’s win over the hosts would keep chances alive for their neighbours to qualify to the knock-out stage.

Jason Roy was back to the squad so was England’s form. His 66 off 57 and Jonny Bairstow’s blistering 111 laid the foundation for a huge English total. Joe Root added 44 runs and Ben Stokes contributed with a swift 54-ball 79. Mohammed Shami had a five-wicket haul and Bumrah took one. Thanks to Bumrah’s effort it was possible to restrict England on 337/7.

India had the potential to chase but they started off with 8/1 as KL Rahul was gone for a duck. Rohit Sharma went on to score his third hundred of this tournament and Virat Kohli added 66 runs. Rishabh Pant playing his first World Cup match looked nervous and could add only 32 runs. Hardik Pandya tried to accelerate with 45 off 33. But once these two were gone the ball was in England’s court. MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadav scored 42 and 12 runs respectively. But the asking rate went beyond their control and India lost their first match of the tournament by 31 runs. Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes took three and two wickets respectively. 

Emirates Riverside, Chester-le-Street, July 3: Beat New Zealand by 119 runs

England continued to deliver yet another good show and entered the top four. The opening duo one more time carried the innings for the team and helped to set another 300+ score. Jason Roy scored 60 off 61 whereas Jonny Bairstow was terrific with 106 off 99. Eoin Morgan added 42 more and England had 305/6 at the end. Trent Boult, Matt Henry, and Jimmy Neesham scalped two each.

On the contrary, it was an absolute collapse on the Kiwi side. Tom Latham ended as the highest scorer with 57 off 65. Mark Wood took three wickets and Jofra Archer delivered a brilliant spell, 7-1-17-1.