ODI World Cup digest: India hand out a drubbing in front of 100,000 plus; two teams lose captains

The Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 takes place in India from October 5 to November 19. Every morning, we’ll round up the latest action and news from the event and bring you the perspectives of our journalists on the ground.

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Featured: Bumrah, Spin do the trick as India give Pakistan another World Cup win

India 192 for 3 (Rohit 86*, Iyer 53*) beaten Pakistan 191 (Babar 50, Rizwan 49) by seven wickets

The game that always promises and rarely delivers has come and gone, promising a lot at different stages, and finally delivering what a blue mass of humanity had come to see: a crushing victory for India. A superb middle-order collapse by Pakistan that saw them lose eight wickets for 36 runs turned what should have been an exciting chase into a dull formality. Each Indian bowler played a role in their own way, with five different players equally sharing Pakistan’s ten wickets.

As Pakistan retreated for 191, India – led by captain Rohit Sharma – dazzled and sizzled, although in reality it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. Pakistan had already bowed out of that match and were spectators as India returned home in front of around 100,000 fans to move into pole position in the World Cup race for which they appear favorites.

Click here for the full report

Match analysis: Bumrah’s slower ball that broke the clock

Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t look for wickets but on Saturday he found one that will be talked about for years and years. It was a fall. But also more. In the same way that the Mona Lisa is a painting but also more.

Bumrah was rather successful in buying time with this ball. Or at least the batter’s point of view. And it was Mohammad Rizwan on the field. Well adjusted. Fresh from a winning century that had led to the highest ever run in the men’s ODI World Cup. It took something special to dislodge him. And Bumrah spent the whole time preparing it.

Read the full analysis of Alagappan Muthu

The atmosphere: An atmosphere like never before, but it could have been much more

The Narendra Modi Stadium is built to be imposing, a nod to muscular exhibitionism and a symbol of Indian cricket’s pole position in the sport. It beats the Melbourne Cricket Ground by at least 20,000 seats, and while it’s not as tall and coliseum-like as the MCG, its vastness makes it feel like a gladiator. And it’s safe to say that cricket has never seen so many blue jerseys at one venue as today.

Every inch of this stadium was packed for the last IPL final, despite it being pushed back a day due to rain, but never before has this ground hosted an Indian match of this magnitude. The previous ODI matches here were played in Covid times, and the Test match during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, despite the pomp of two prime ministers making their appearance in the stands, was poorly attended. So there you have it, the real deal, the day that stadium you were hoping for was built for, bathed in cacophonous blue. And when the moment came, it produced the noise so typical of the Indian cricket experience.

Read the full report from Sambit Bal in Ahmedabad

What to watch: How good is Bumrah?

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Is Bumrah the best bowler in this World Cup so far?

Anil Kumble explains what makes Bumrah so good

News headlines

Match Preview

Afghanistan v England, Delhi (2 p.m. IST; 8:30 a.m. GMT; 7:30 p.m. AEST)

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Who comes out if Ben Stokes is fit?

Anil Kumble and Aaron Finch on Australia’s conundrum

Much like gap year students, England left Dharamsala having found themselves and arrived in the sprawling metropolis of Delhi on Wednesday with a self-esteem more in line with their white-ball dominance over the past eight years.

Their “crisis” lasted five days. A nine-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand led to a lot of soul-searching, but an equally dominant victory over Bangladesh alleviated more than just the Net Run Rate woes.

Reece Topley considered the result “a step in the right direction”, which he made easier with 4 for 43 after being brought in to replace Moeen Ali. Add to that good starts from Dawid Malan and Joe Root, with Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood picking up speed, and things are starting to look more balanced and settled for the reigning champions.

Full overview

Team News

England (possible) 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (captain and week), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Toply

Afghanistan (possible) 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (week), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 5 Azmatullah Oarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Najibullah Zadran, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul -Haq, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Analysis: What’s holding Rashid Khan back?

By the time Rashid Khan finally came into the attack to play the 15th over, India were 125 for 0. He dismissed the first two, having Ishan Kishan caught at cover and bowling Rohit after being caught for three consecutive boundaries, but these wickets only served to highlight the peculiarity: why did Afghanistan use five other bowlers before Rashid?

This is the latest episode in Rashid’s unusual and disappointing World Cup career, which now spans 11 matches. At 25, he already holds elite status as a white-ball bowler: at some point next year, he will overtake Dwayne Bravo as the leading wicket-taker in T20 history. And yet such success has generally eluded him in 50-over cricket.

Read the full article by Matt Roller in Delhi