Are England finally improving in ODI cricket?

What a difference three weeks makes.

At the end of June, a dark cloud hung over the England camp, with Test captain Ben Stokes retiring after a 2-1 series defeat by New Zealand.

That campaign brought an end to coach Brendon McCullum's time in charge of the red-ball side, and plenty of questions remain about the future of the Test team, but the New Zealander has enjoyed an upturn in fortunes in July, with his limited-overs outfit beating India 4-0 in a T20 series and 2-1 in one-day internationals.

Defeating the world number one side in both formats, and overtaking them at the top of the rankings in the 20-over game, is no mean feat and England may feel they are now beginning to show the sort of momentum they last displayed in the build-up to their World Cup victory in 2019.

With the next edition of the tournament a little over a year away, BBC Sport takes a look at whether England's 50-over team is finally tracking in the right direction.

England's only significant change in the India series was a new opening combination of Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell, and it bore fruit at Lord's.

The left-handed duo became England's sixth opening pair since the 2023 World Cup, with Phil Salt, Jamie Smith and Zak Crawley currently out of contention and Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed considerations for the middle order after spells at the top.

They had a decent start in the first ODI at Edgbaston, putting on 63, but Duckett was dismissed first ball in the second fixture at Cardiff, with Bethell following shortly afterwards as England found themselves 8-2.

In London, however, the pair flogged a tired India attack, taking advantage of benign batting conditions to put on the highest ODI opening stand at Lord's, with Duckett pressing on for his fourth century in the format.

Bethell, who has not previously batted higher than four for England in white-ball cricket, started his ODI opening career with innings of 14 and four, but cut a composed figure at the Home of Cricket.

He played in a typically positive fashion, striking at 97.85 as he plundered 11 fours and two sixes before falling for 91, just short of a second ODI ton.

The 22-year-old's promotion up the order means England can carry an extra bowler, with the hosts fielding three seamers and spinner Adil Rashid alongside all-rounders Sam Curran and Will Jacks in the latter two matches of this series.

If England are to regain the World Cup, having surrendered it meekly in 2023, much of the responsibility will rest on Joe Root's shoulders.

The 35-year-old struggled by his standards in the one-day format for a number of years following the 2019 victory, averaging just 29 between 2020 and 2023, and his record saw him left out of the ODI set-up for the entirety of 2024.

However since his recall, Root has enjoyed a remarkable uptick in form, averaging 81.5 from 21 innings with four centuries.

He has now made six consecutive scores over 50, stretching back to the start of the series in Sri Lanka in January, becoming the first England batter to achieve that feat.

Root's unbeaten 76 at Edgbaston kept England in contention, with a 121-run partnership with Liam Dawson coming between collapses of 6-107 and 4-30, while an undefeated 99 in Cardiff anchored England's successful chase.

Coming in after the record-breaking opening stand on Sunday, Root enjoyed a rare opportunity to cut loose, with his strike-rate of 154.17 the highest of any ODI score over 50 in his ODI career.

By reaching the end of the innings on 74, he recorded his fourth consecutive not out innings, and his run of 360 runs since his last dismissal is currently the seventh highest in the history of the format.

If there is a question to be answered about England's side, it is who will fill the seamer slots in the XI.

With the World Cup to be played on the hard decks of South Africa and Zimbabwe, England will likely persist with three outright fast bowlers with the support of Curran.

Spearhead Jofra Archer is an automatic selection, assuming he remains fit, while Gus Atkinson did his cause no harm in his two outings against India, taking 3-50 in Cardiff and keeping to an economy rate of four at Lord's when no other bowler was under six.

The third slot remains up for grabs, with neither Josh Tongue nor Saqib Mahmood consolidating their place in the side.

Tongue took one wicket in two matches and was expensive at Lord's, conceding 43 runs from five overs, while Mahmood took 2-52 in Cardiff but was rotated out for Tongue for the series finale.

Brydon Carse returned to the squad for this series having recovered from wrist and elbow injuries that have kept him out of international cricket, while the selectors have also favoured the all-round skills of Jamie Overton and may return to him once he has recovered from the thigh injury he sustained in the Indian Premier League.

With a five-match Ashes series preceding the World Cup, England may expect at least one seamer to go down with injury, and will want a strong group of pacers ready to step up to the tournament squad.

There is also slight concern about spinner Adil Rashid, who has had a quiet 2026, taking eight wickets in ODIs and only one in this series.

The 38-year-old's economy rate for the year is consistent with recent efforts, remaining under six, while he can still claim to be England's biggest threat in overs 11-40 - taking 32 of their 72 wickets in that period since the start of last year.

England will return to the one-day format at the tail-end of the summer against Sri Lanka, with matches at Chester-le-Street, Headingley and The Oval between 22-27 September.

Their next taste of international cricket will be in the format as they play three matches in Australia in mid-November, before they sample World Cup conditions with three fixtures in South Africa in mid-January.

There is set to be an ODI series against Pakistan in the 2027 summer before the World Cup starts on 4 October.