A merciless England, however, wrecked their title defence, crushing them by eight wickets with nearly 18 overs to spare.
Raina confident of India maintaining World Cup record
Images from Day 2 of the third and final Test between England and West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday.
It will also be a milestone in the career of England's talisman Ben Stokes as he captains the side for the first time.
Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal shone with the ball as Rajasthan Royals finally won their first game of this IPL season after outclassing Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in Jaipur on Tuesday.
England coach Chris Silverwood admitted that it is "very difficult" to tell players not to play in the Indian Premier League even as his team's much-debated rotation policy in Test matches came under scanner after their humbling 317-run defeat against India in the second Test in Chennai.
England are thinking of bringing a specialist spinner back into the line-up after going with an all-pace attack in their last two outings, coach Chris Silverwood said as they arrived in Cape Town for their second Test against South Africa starting on Friday. That means a seamer such as record wicket-taker James Anderson or Stuart Broad may be dropped for a contest expected to be played on a much flatter deck than the first Test in Pretoria, which South Africa won by 107 runs inside four days on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers' impressive defence of modest totals continued as the visitors pulled off a 11-run win over Rajasthan Royals on a tricky pitch to claim the top spot
Panesar also expects the ICC to prepare a neutral wicket and not a green top as the WTC is supposed to be a good advert for the five-day game.
The big question mark is whether England can cope with the level of expectation that surrounds them as favourites on home soil.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players before the IPL 2020 Final.
The England attack were heavily criticized in media back home for their lack of penetration
England pacer Mark Wood says he is working on developing a slow yorker that could be handy at the T20 World Cup on Indian pitches later this year.
To match or even surpass the Royals, KKR have the biggest stars in Andre Russell to go along with reigning World Cup winning English skipper Eoin Morgan
KKR have so far failed to come together as a unit and slipped to sixth in the table after starting the tournament on a high against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Desperate to not miss a single game, a big-hitting star has requested BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, on behalf of the players from both countries, to lessen the quarantine period to three days.
Images from Sunday's IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah.
On the other hand, the Royals have managed to win only one of their three fixtures. They lost to Chennai Super Kings in their previous match to slip down to the sixth spot. Sanju Samson and his men will be eyeing a second win.
Delhi Capitals senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin spoke to head coach Ricky Ponting on the controversial issue of 'Mankading' in which the bowler runs out the batsman at the non-striker's end if he sets off for a run before the ball is bowled.
RR will have to get their combination right as only four foreigners can make the playing XI.
Wagner took three wickets in 17 balls for just one run as England collapsed from 132-5 to 138-8 before tea, then broke a 59-run ninth-wicket partnership between Jofra Archer and Sam Curran after they had threatened to thwart the hosts.
The skipper, however, hinted that there would be a bit more lateral movement with the pink ball which can 'work in their favour'.
England are aiming to avoid their first series defeat at home to the visitors since 2001 when they lost 4-1 to an Australian side led by Steve Waugh.
New Zealand's Tom Latham managed to score his 11th Test century before heavy rain washed out the final session of the first day of the second Test between against England at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
Silverwood said Stokes will have to 'rein' him in during training as he is always looking push himself.
Chennai and Mumbai have to win eight of their remaining 10 games to entertain hopes of making the play-offs in IPL 2022.
Images from Day 4 of the fourth Ashes Test, at Old Trafford, Manchester.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 2nd Test played between England and West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday.
'If you want to know how to beat anybody as an England team, you pick Stuart Broad and James Anderson, together. While they are still working, still walking, pick them together for goodness sake.'
England ended day four with a 170-run lead over West Indies as Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley notched up half-centuries in the second innings of the first Test at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Saturday. Images from Day 4 of the first Test between England and West Indies.
Mumbai Indians have so far looked like anything but IPL's five-time champions, losing both their opening games - against Delhi Capitals by four wickets, followed by a 23-run defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals.
Only three Black players have made their England debut since 2000 - the most recent being Jofra Archer who is in England's squad to face the West Indies this week in the first test.
New Zealand have already booked their spot for the inaugural WTC final, leaving India, England and Australia vying for the other.
Along with Jonny Bairstow, Wood joined the England squad ahead of the third Test.
Pakistan left England with their heads held high after their last two tours, drawing both, most recently under Misbah in 2018.
After 45 games in the ICC men's cricket World Cup the group stage is complete, and the final four now know who will play who in the semi-finals. Australia, India, England and New Zealand knew prior to Saturday's final group matches that they would be in the top four and that all that was to be decided was the end of group standings.
South Africa bowled England out for 181 in their first innings and had built up a significant 175-run lead by the close of play on the second day of the first Test at Centurion Park on Friday. Images from Day 2 of the first Test between South Africa and England at Supersport Park in Centurion on Friday.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was baffled by India's run-chasing strategy during their World Cup game last year in which he found Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's approach 'mystifying' and saw 'no intent' from Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the run chase. It was the game at Birmingham, where India were comprehensively beaten by 31 runs after they failed to chase England's massive score of 337/7 last year.
Brilliant performances from some players of the 10 participating teams through the World Cup will be etched in memory of cricket fans forever.
Australia, with Steve Smith back in their line-up, will retain the Ashes with victory in the fourth Test, while a win for England would set up a decider at the Oval next week.
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