India Keen to Carry WC Winning Momentum Against England: KL Rahul

KL Rahul said the team cannot always go thinking it is a 300 wicket and the team needs to be more flexible.

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Indian bowlers led by the deadly Mohammed Shami produced yet another splendid performance to put their team on the cusp of a semi-final berth with a 125-run rout of the West Indies in their sixth World Cup encounter in Manchester on Thursday, 27 June.

While Indian bowling side were attacking Windies batsmen, the middle-order looked jittery again with skipper Kohli not getting enough support from the other batsmen.

And, one cannot always go thinking it is a 300 wicket and the team needs to be more flexible, said KL Rahul at a post match press conference.

"The plan is for the top three or top four (batsmen for) one of us to...even if we take time, we can make it up later. We have that confidence in the batting unit and with the conditions (like) today (which) was a slow wicket.

“If we go to the next game there might be a better seam movement, might be overcast. So, we need to be flexible in our heads. We can't always say that one-day cricket (on a) flat wicket doesn't mean we get 360 (or) 370 (runs). We need to be flexible," Rahul said.

He said that the last two wickets have not been the easiest to bat for the Indian batsmen.

"Yet, without none of scoring a hundred, we still managed to get 240 and 260-plus today, which is great. Which only gives us more confidence is out batting unit knowing that if one of us or two of us go on to get a big 50 or a big hundred, it will just make it easier to get us to 300."

For India it was a fifth win from six games — one was washed out against New Zealand — and a rebound in form following a close call against Afghanistan last Saturday, 22 June, when it took Shami's hat trick in the last over to seal a nervy victory.

Skipper Virat Kohli posted the highest score of the game, 72 from 82 balls, to collect a fourth consecutive half century and a man-of-the-match award.

"If we play the best cricket and if we play the kind of cricket that we've been playing in the last four or five games. That will be where — we'll end up most probably on the winning side," Rahul said.

“Again winning and losing isn’t what we’re focused on right now. And everybody individually and as a team, we’re focused on doing, getting our plans right, executing our skills right and again a big game against England. So, hopefully the confidence and the momentum that we have we can carry that to Birmingham and it will be great to get one more win.”

KL Rahul

It was a fifth loss in six games for the West Indians since a commanding opening win over Pakistan, and it makes them the third team to drop out of playoffs contention along with Afghanistan and South Africa. They've still got games against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan to go.

(With inputs from AP, PTI)