Unbeaten hosts India are set to lock horns against wounded defending champions England at Lucknow’s Ekana stadium, with the latter in a do-or-die battle to keep alive their fast-fading hopes of staying alive in the tournament.
Tipped as one of the firm title contenders going into the quadrennial showpiece, England finds themselves at the bottom of the points table four weeks into the tournament. However, while England are staring at a shock elimination at the round-robin stage of the ongoing World Cup, they still have a mathematical chance of making it to the semifinals.
The return of all-rounder Ben Stokes to England’s 50-over setup was meant to inspire the Three Lions, add balance to the team, and give a different dimension to their 15-member squad that came into the tournament brimming with confidence and belief. However, his absence from the first few games posed a major challenge for the Three Lions to find the right balance.
Their misfiring top-order, lack of an extra spinner, and errant pacers saw the pre-tournament favourites crash to four losses in five.
Their only victory came against Bangladesh in Dharamsala.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma-led India have been flawless in the World Cup campaign so far, thriving on familiar surfaces.
Even with the absence of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, they managed to get the better of high-flying title contender New Zealand. While tweaking their playing eleven to ensure balance and considering the surfaces they were playing on, India came out as rampant winners in all their previous matches, coasting home with plenty of overs to spare.
While the top order, led by Rohit, has been in fine fettle, the middle order, too, has come good to stabilise the innings in the middle overs. With the bowlers firing on all cylinders as well, India has reaffirmed its title credentials in the five matches it has featured in so far.