New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- England had nothing left to bargain with by the time Mohammed Shami started his third spell. What had looked like a competitive target - 229 off 50 overs under Lucknow's lights - turned surgical in the space of twelve deliveries. Four wickets. Twenty-two runs conceded. England all out for 129, and India seven matches unbeaten in the 2023 World Cup with four tournament days still to go.

five sixes, a strike rate that accelerated precisely when England needed India to stall - was the foundation everything else was built on. The night belonged to the seamer the selectors had left out of the previous World Cup, a man working through this tournament match by match in a way that had made Indian cricket fans rethink what t...