IND vs ENG, ICC World Cup 2019: Bairstow's ton powers England to 337/7 at Edgbaston

Ben Stokes master-class innings at the end stole all the limelight from Shami. In fact, Stokes ensured that Shami's figures wore a sorry look as he took the attack to the pacer in his last two overs, hammering him to all parts of the ground.

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Jonny Bairstow (111) and Jason Roy (66) gave England a blistering start before Mohammed Shami's five-for pegged them back, but a fiery innings by Ben Stokes' (79) ensured the hosts finish on 337/7 in 50 overs. Virat-Kohli led India will need to chase more than any team have ever chased in a World Cup to beat England. Ben Stokes master-class innings at the end stole all the limelight from Shami. In fact, Stokes ensured that Shami's figures wore a sorry look as he took the attack to the pacer in his last two overs, hammering him to all parts of the ground. Both the Indian spinners returned with expensive figures. While Kuldeep Yadav went for 72 runs in his 10 overs, Yuzvendra Chahal was taken for 88 runs from his quota of 10 overs. Interestingly, Roy got a life on 21 when a fine flick off the gloves was caught down the leg by M.S. Dhoni, only for the umpire to call it a wide. Hardik Pandya was the unfortunate bowler as Dhoni didn't want a DRS call on it. The life seemed to change the approach of the English batsmen as they started to take the attack to the bowlers. After that it was a clear case of the England batsmen taking the Indian bowlers to the cleaners before K.L. Rahul's injury turned out to be a boon in disguise for the Indians. Coming in as a substitute, Ravindra Jadeja picked up a blinder at long-on to send Roy back as the score read 160/1 in the 23rd over. Rahul had landed on his back while attempting a catch at the boundary and didn't return to field. But an external injury meant he can open the innings if fit. Bairstow though continued his onslaught with Joe Root for company before Kohli turned back to Shami in desperation. And the pacer answered his captain's call as he sent back Bairstow, caught by Rishabh Pant in the 32nd over. It was a clear case of a sudden failure to get the scoreboard moving after reaching his century. Having reached the three-figure mark off 90 balls, he ended on 111 off 109 balls. The Indians did make a silent return into the game with Shami sending back Morgan (1) cheaply, but Root then consolidated with Ben Stokes as the two once again kept the scoreboard moving to ensure that the score read 245/3 after 40 overs with the last 10 overs up for another flourish. While Shami did send back Root (44), caught by Pandya in the 45th over, Jos Buttler joined Stokes in the middle to ensure that the English innings finished on fifth gear. By the time Shami sent back Buttler for a 8-ball 20, the spark had already been ignited. Stokes too departed in the last over as he looked to paddle Bumrah to the fine-leg stand, but the damage had been done by then. (With IANS inputs)