(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] England turned up just like everybody expected them to be. Although they had faced an early hiccup in their World Cup journey, losing to New Zealand in the tournament opener, they steamrolled Bangladesh to get off the mark on the points table.
Bangladesh opted to bowl first, looking to take advantage of the favourable conditions for the bowlers in the morning in Dharamsala. However, they got reduced to bits by the England opening pair itself.
Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow cut loose as England rollicked to a flying start. The duo recorded a 115-run opening stand that got broken by Shakib Al Hasan, who took Bairstow’s wicket in the 18th over.
Even after dismissing Bairstow, there was no respite for Bangladesh. Root combined with Malan to pile up on Bangladesh’s misery, forging a 151-run partnership.
Malan registered his sixth ODI century, while Root continued to ride on his merry way, scoring his second consecutive fifty.
Bangladesh did pull off the things in the final 10 overs but could not stop England from scoring in excess of 350 runs.
In the run-chase, Bangladesh never seemed to be in control. Reece Topley, who replaced Moeen Ali in the XI, delivered the goods, taking a four-wicket haul.
For Bangladesh, only Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim showed some fight. Both these batters scored fifties, but it could only reduce the margin of the defeat.
Eventually, Shakib and Co. got bowled out for a score of 227 as England won the match by 137 runs.
Brief scores
England – 364/9 (50)
Dawid Malan 140 (107), Joe Root 82 (68); Mahedi Hasan 4-71 (8), Shoriful Islam 3-75 (10)
Bangladesh – 227/10 (48.2)
Litton Das 76 (66), Mushfiqur Rahim 51 (64); Reece Topley 4-43 (10), Chris Woakes 2-49 (8)