England opener
Jonny Bairstow today scored his first century of the
World Cup 2019 as he put up a rapid 160-run opening stand with Jason Roy to put
India on the backfoot in Birmingham. Roy scored a blistering fifty as well and both the openers flayed the Indian bowling attack to all parts of the ground.
Bairstow's 8th ODI century, which came off 90 balls, couldn't have arrived at a better time for his side as they are grappling to bring their World Cup campaign back on track after back-to-back losses in their previous 2 games.
After weathering a new-ball attack from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, Roy and Bairstow settled into a rhythm against the spinners and hit sixes and fours at will against the slow bowlers. It was only in the 23rd over that the partnership was broken by a stunning catch from substitute fielder Ravindra Jadeja when Roy tried to send Kuldeep Yadav over the straight boundary.
England opener Jonny Bairstow had said people want the hosts to fail and that the critics are being paid to have an opinion about the team.
"People are waiting for us to fail," Bairstow told reporters. "They are not willing us on to win. In many ways, they are waiting for you to lose so they can jump on your throat.
Responding to the comments, Michael Vaughan said it's the team that has disappointed the public with their performances in the tournament.
"How wrong can Bairstow be," Vaughan wrote on Instagram. "Never has (the) England team had so much support but it's you and your team that has disappointed Jonny.
Earlier, England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat against India in their World Cup match, here Sunday. The hosts have replaced Moeen Ali with Liam Plunkett.
India have handed a World Cup debut to young Rishabh Pant, who replaced struggling Vijay Shankar, in the team.
Teams:England: Eoin Morgan(C), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
India: Virat Kohli (C), Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah.