The battle between fans is quite common during the Cricket World Cup 2023 and it was in full display during the high-profile match between India and England in Lucknow on Sunday. It was a rare off day for Virat Kohli as he was dismissed for a duck and England's official fan army - Barmy Army - took to social media to taunt the veteran batter. While India were able to post a modest total, the bowlers were in full form and the duo of Joe Root and Ben Stokes also lost their wickets without scoring a single run. India's fan army - Bharat Army - wasted no time in coming up with hilarious replies to the earlier taunts.
Earlier, England bowlers led by David Willey kept India down to 229-9 despite skipper Rohit Sharma's 87 in a must-win Cricket World Cup 2023 match for the defending champions on Sunday.
Willey, a left-arm quick, returned figures of 3-45, including the prized wicket of Virat Kohli for a nine-ball duck, after England elected to bowl at Lucknow in search of a victory to cling on to their slim hopes of making the semi-finals.
Fast bowler Chris Woakes and leg-spinner Adil Rashid picked up two wickets each and a spirited performance by the fielders, who threw themselves around to stop runs, made England look a like a different side.
The 2019 champions sit bottom of the 10-team table with four defeats from five matches.
"I missed my lengths early in the tournament, and I'm my own biggest critic," Woakes said in the innings break.
"Fielding set the tone for us. It took a bit of spin, and it's a bit two-paced, but hopefully under lights it'll slide on. But we'd have taken that at the start. Hopefully we can bat well and chase it down."
Suryakumar Yadav made a fighting 49 before becoming Willey's third wicket but the tail played out the full 50 overs.