A brilliant opening spell by Jasprit Bumrah paved the way for India’s emphatic 10-wicket victory over England in the first ODI at The Oval.
Actually, let’s pause; victory is perhaps too mild a word for the complete annihilation that unfolded under cloudy skies in south London.
It was a total shellacking, a comprehensive demolition, an utter spifflication (yes, I had to look up that last one).
Bowled out for 110 in just 25.2 overs, their sixth-lowest total at home, England’s capitulation was good news for publicans in Kennington as India polished off the chase in less than 19 overs, but a sobering result for a side that welcomed back Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Joe Root after they were rested for the T20Is.
It was also the first time England have picked their first choice top six since the 2019 World Cup Final; only the recently retired Eoin Morgan was missing.
Bumrah recorded his best ODI figures of 6 for 19 off 7.2 overs in a magnificent display of seam and swing, while his opening bowling partner Mohammed Shami was also devastating, finishing with 3 for 31 off seven overs.
India won the toss, elected to field and made the most of a greenish pitch and muggy conditions as their bowlers hooped the ball around the befuddled England batters.
Bumrah kicked off the carnage with a superb opening spell that claimed the wickets of Jason Roy (0), Root (0) and Bairstow (7), a procession briefly interrupted by Shami’s dismissal of Stokes (0).
Roy was drawn into reaching for a ball that pitched well wide of off stump but caught a thick inside edge that smashed the stumps. It was almost impressive that Roy managed to drag on such a wide ball so precisely, but it pretty much summed up his recent run.
The green pitch gave some extra kick to Bumrah’s second delivery to Root, the ball bouncing sharply and grazing the bat that England's premier batter obligingly dangled.
At least Root faced more than one ball (this was a day for grasping meagre straws of positivity).
Stokes lasted just a single Shami wonderball that nipped back off the seam and Rishabh Pant took a stupendous one-handed catch off the inside edge while diving to his right.
🗣️ "England in tatters here." 😬
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 12, 2022
THREE in quick succession ✅✅✅ pic.twitter.com/qGleJNEk2I
Pant’s right glove must have been stuffed with magnets, although his take of an edge from a fairly tame Bairstow poke was probably stolen from first slip.
No one was complaining, though, and why should they? England were 17/4 and all three of their returning ‘big guns’ were back in the dressing room.
Jos Buttler (30) and David Willey (21) were the only two batters to graduate from the teens but, of all the wickets to fall, Liam Livingstone’s was probably the ugliest.
It came at the hands of Bumrah (natch), and perhaps Livingstone was trying to close the angle of attack, but the big stride forward and across left his stumps horribly exposed; the sight of such a batter bowled around his legs was wince-inducing for England fans, a source of mirth and jubilation for the India faithful.
It was England’s fourth duck and huge and noisy Indian contingent in the crowd were baying for more.
The lower order scraped their way to 110 in just over half their allocated overs but the game was done and dusted. The only question was how many overs it would take India to reach the target.
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The first ball of their innings gave a brief English glimmer of hope when Rohit pushed for a single and Shikhar Dhawan hesitated.
It should have been a fatal pause as Bairstow scampered in from midwicket, dived and flung the ball at the stumps; Dhawan was miles short but the throw was wide.
Perhaps that spooked India’s openers somewhat. There was no attempt to chase down the target in a hurry and Rohit (76 off 58) and Dhawan (31 off 54) reeled it in at their leisure.
Rohit did up the pace by clearing the boundary five times, but the sixes seemed almost perfunctory in such an easy chase.
It was done in 18.4 overs and the entire match had taken less than four hours since Bumrah and Shami took the new ball.
“There have been instances where I've bowled so much better than this and I have not got wickets,” said Bumrah, speaking after the match. “But I always look to follow the same routine.
England 110 all out ❌
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 12, 2022
Jasprit Bumrah finishes with the best-ever ODI figures for a bowler against England 👏 pic.twitter.com/RVd4GT4LHK
“Yes, today was a day where the white ball swung and there was some seam movement so I wanted to exploit that.
“When we started the innings, we saw there was some seam and swing.
“We both of us had a conversation, Shami and I, that we should go a little fuller and try and bowl a Test match length.
“So it was a good day, we got wickets and there was some help in the beginning and the wicket was also on the softer side.”
With just two days until the second ODI at Lord’s, England have very little time to work out how they are going to play the irrepressible Bumrah, particularly if conditions are again favourable for swing.
“There was obviously a little bit in the wicket early on and I thought, just with Bumrah especially, they exposed that fantastically well,” said Buttler. “The big guns coming back in have all been in some of the best form of their life playing Test cricket, so it proves that it wasn't easy out there.
“But we must look and think, 'Is there a way we can try and manage it better? Try and not lose as many wickets at the start?'
“And we've got to learn quickly.”
