After 29 days of doom and gloom, England taste sweet victory

Paul van Meekeren charged down the field, swung and missed. Jos Buttler picked up the flat remains of Moeen Ali, ran his hands past the stumps as if toying with van Meekeren, then brought them back to knock down the bails. As the England players gathered in the middle, there were greetings, pats on the back and even a few smiles.

So that’s what I felt. 29 days after its first victory in this World Cup, against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, England finally won their second. During those 29 days, they stayed in seven different hotels in seven different cities, traveled nearly 5,500 miles on six different flights, lost five straight games, and were eliminated in all five.

In most sports, World Cups take pity on losing teams, sending them home after two or three defeats. Not the cricket. England’s beleaguered players have been stuck on the other side of the world for two weeks, their semi-final chances long gone, waiting aimlessly for someone, anyone, to deliver the killing blow.

Australia succeeded, but even that was not enough. The mid-tournament revelation that a place in the Champions Trophy was at stake left England with no choice but to deal with a low-key match against the Netherlands, a team they selected for a record total of 498 last year but with more points. than them in their first seven games, as a must.

And so, to Pune – or more accurately, to a vast empty stadium an hour from Pune, nestled somewhere near the Mumbai-Pune highway, on the edge of a sprawling suburb and dominated by an unfinished housing project. The sparse crowd, estimated at 9,217 people by the ICC, was bustling in this concrete bowl with 42,700 seats.

England made 39 runs from the first four overs and overcame the loss of Jonny Bairstow for 15. Dawid Malan conjured up a 36-ball half-century and Joe Root finally got out of the first Powerplay. But then came a familiar stumble: Root was run over by Logan van Beek, losing his middle stump upside down, and panic set in.

Malan was run out after being dismissed by Ben Stokes, looking for a single that was never there, Harry Brook – eventually recalled for Liam Livingstone – hit two sumptuous boundaries then hooked Bas de Leede at one leg square deep, and Buttler chipped obediently to middle-off, at this stage completely devoid of his usual assurance.

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The stadium DJ was unfazed by the rows of empty seats, blaring Canadian rap between overs. Moeen Ali half-heartedly bowled Aryan Dutt straight down Leede’s throat at long-off for 4 off 15 balls. In the stands, an older England fan held up a sign that modestly declared: “We beat Bangladesh.

Chris Woakes pushed a single against Dutt, then resolutely blocked the last ball of his over. “Alright Pune, let’s turn up the energy!” implored the DJ. “Hands up, hands up, dance, dance, dance, let’s go!” Nobody danced. England’s two-time world champions were dropped to preserve their legacy.

It was left to Stokes to bail them out. He had a life on 41, when Dutt left a tough chance at a fine step ahead of van Beek and then began to step up a gear. He reached a 58-ball half-century, his second in a row, when he bowled from Leede over midwicket and then marmalised Dutt after surviving an inconclusive review for lbw.

Stokes’ second fifty took just 20 balls as he accumulated a century by hitting van Meekeren for four. It was his first in the World Cup, a fact that only underlined that the influence of some players will never be measured by milestones, in light of his 2019 exploits.

But it was a strange sight: here was England’s man of great moments, 25km from Pune, in a battle for Champions Trophy qualification. Stokes surely won’t play in this tournament, but his innings has at least taken them to seventh in the World Cup group stage going into the final round of matches.

So that was why Stokes had stayed in India, rather than returning home and bringing forward his knee surgery by a week. “That’s not his style at all,” Buttler said. “He is here to play in the World Cup and he wants to be here.” The two men didn’t even discuss the possibility of Stokes’ early departure.

As England cruised to a 160-run victory with another strong bowling performance – their third in a row, having knocked out India and Australia – Buttler’s overriding emotion was relief. “It’s not nice to lose,” he said. “It’s been a frustrating time…Whatever game I play, I’m competitive, I want to win, whether it’s a card game or a cricket game.”

Eventually, the losing streak was broken. “It’s good to end this streak and we are going to Kolkata,” Buttler said. “We’re not playing for what we wanted to play for, but for a game that’s really vital to us in the grand scheme of things. It’s great to get there with something on the line.”

England now fly east to face Pakistan on Saturday, where they can at least expect a much grander spectacle at Eden Gardens against a team vying for a place in the semi-finals – and against the ‘India, nothing less. Then finally, after a final journey-train-game sequence, they will be able to relegate this dismal title defense to history.