India won by seven wickets thanks to Rahul and Ishan Kishan at the top of the order.
Virat Kohli said before the ICC game that when the tournament starts, Rahul will open with Rohit Sharma, who was rested for this game, and that he will bat at No. 3. Rahul demonstrated why his skipper wants him at the top of the order by scoring 51 off just 24 balls, continuing the brilliant form he displayed in Punjab Kings’ final encounter of the IPL season.
Kishan ensured he made a good case for selection in the middle order, if not at the top, with a 46-ball 70.
India won by an over, but the match was much closer than that. Chris Jordan bowled a wide, high full-toss that was no-balled and raced past the keeper to the boundary, changing the equation from 16 required off nine balls to 11 required off eight. Rishabh Pant finished off the over with a pulled six after Hardik Pandya swung at the following free-hit and threw an edge to the third-man boundary. Pant maintained his perfect record with a 14-ball 29 that included two consecutive straight sixes against Moeen Ali.
As India ace a tough chase against England, Rahul and Kishan both score quick fifties in the ICC World Cup warm-up game. Apart from laying the foundation for a successful chase of 189, the 82-run opening combination between Rahul and Kishan, which came off only 50 balls, gave India a difficult decision to make ahead of their tournament opener.
Before leaving the field with a finger injury, Liam Livingstone shined with bat and ball for England in this ICC warm-up.
There were also positives for England, especially with the bat, with Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, and Moeen Ali all contributing well in the middle order. Livingstone bowled legspin to a quiet Kohli and showed his versatility by bowling offspin to the left-handers, but his evening was cut short as he went off the field with a finger injury incurred when going for a catch in the deep in the 16th over. England will be hoping that the injury is minor.
For India, Mohammed Shami claimed three wickets, but Jasprit Bumrah, who put Bairstow out with a wonderfully directed Yorker and only gave up 26 runs in four overs, was the most impressive bowler. R Ashwin was even more thrifty, averaging under a run per ball, and argued for a spot in India’s spin attack. However, the legspinner Rahul Chahar, as well as Shami and, in particular, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who gave up 54 runs in four overs, including Moeen Ali hitting him for 4, 6, 6 off the last three balls of England’s innings.
On Wednesday, both teams will play their final ICC warm-up games – England vs. New Zealand and India vs. Australia – and will be able to put some of the players they rested today to the test. Eoin Morgan, Jos Butler, and the fast bowlers Tom Curran and Tymal Mills from England, as well as Rohit and the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy from India, are among them.
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