India ride on Bumrah's career-best effort in England drubbing

There are days India's fast bowling attack comes alive as a whole. And then there are some when they do and still Jasprit Bumrah becomes the sole talking point. Six for 19? That too against a finely tuned English team that hit the highest ODI score only last month? From Jason Roy to Jos Buttler, this was a reunion of the class of 2019 waiting for its big reveal under a new ODI captain. Put to bat on what is historically one of the flattest pitches in the country, England looked all set for another dream start.

But Bumrah ransacked those dreams with his career-best figures, sending England tumbling to 110 all out—their lowest ODI score against India—before Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan bossed the bowling in an unbeaten 114-run opening stand to complete England's rout.

Mohammed Shami was no less vital in this near-perfect game, dismissing Ben Stokes for a second-ball duck and Buttler, who tried to salvage the innings with a patient 32-ball 30. Jason Roy scored a duck, as did Joe Root and Liam Livingstone, who had only recently set the IPL on fire with his long-range sixes. Jonny Bairstow, England's Test centurion on speed dial, too scored just seven.

Only five times before this have fast bowlers picked all 10 wickets for India in an ODI—against Australia (Chelmsford, 1983), West Indies (Lord's, 1983), Pakistan (Toronto, 1997), Sri Lanka (Johannesburg, 2003) and Bangladesh (Mirpur, 2014)—but never bowling first. Sharma was more ready than the weather in London, with absolutely no compunction about unleashing his fast bowlers on an England team that likes to chase nowadays. It was a good toss to win. Shami seamed the ball into and away from Bairstow in consecutive deliveries and straightaway India decided to alter their lengths.

"When there's swing and seam movement, it is very exciting in white-ball cricket to get that opportunity because you have to be defensive with the kind of pitches we usually get," said Bumrah at the presentation ceremony. "When I bowled the first ball, I found some swing and we tried to exploit that. When it doesn't swing, I have to pull my lengths back. When the ball is doing something you don't have to try a lot. When the wicket is flat your accuracy is tested. It is a good place to be when the ball is swinging. As soon as Shami bowled that first over, we had a conversation to go fuller."

The elements were in favour of seam bowling too. According to CricViz, the 0.77° seam movement in the first 10 overs was the second highest average figure ever recorded at the Oval, with the Pavilion end (from where Bumrah was bowling) recording up to 1.29°.

But you still need to land the ball in the right slots and no one does that better than Bumrah these days. After a first-ball away swinger, he brought back the ball twice before finally drawing blood with a full and wide delivery that Roy sought to drive but led on to his stumps. No stranger to such starts, Root usually is the calm England prefer at one end while going berserk with their enforcers from the other end. But he too lasted all of two balls, lured into nicking a ball that kicked off length.

When Shami got Stokes to inside edge a delivery, England were 7/3 and in utter need of a convalescing stand. At the crease was Bairstow, still warm from his incredible Test run. But this white ball was evidently doing more than the red Dukes. And at those lengths, it can be quite simply unpredictable. Bumrah made it even more exacting—examining Bairstow with a nip-backer and one that seamed away from him before luring him with a short of a length delivery that the right-hander edged for Pant to again latch on to with a one-handed blinder.

Even more unplayable was the ball that got Livingstone, swinging in 3.2° to crash into the base of his stumps, to reduce England to 26/5 after 7.5 overs. From there, it was pretty much India's day all along.