Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
Bangladesh failed to maintain the momentum gained by beating Afghanistan in the opening match as they suffered a massive 137-run defeat against defending champions England in the second match of the ICC World Cup in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
After being put into bat first by Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan, England posted a mammoth 364-9, courtesy of a 140-run knock from Dawid Malan, although Bangladesh had managed to restrict them to that total after the English were on 298-3 after 40 overs.
In reply, except for Liton Das’s 76 runs off 66 balls, there was little fire from the Bangladesh batters as they lost four wickets within the first powerplay, a situation they could never recover from.
A fifty from Mushfiqur Rahim and 39 from Towhid Hridoy saw Bangladesh stringently end on 227.
‘If you don’t get a start, if you lose more than three wickets in the first powerplay, then you are not winning many matches. So, definitely, it’s a concern for batting. When we play seven batters, we want our top order to fire so that’s a big concern,’ Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said after the match.
Chasing 365, Bangladesh lost Tanzid Hasan Tamim (1) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (0) in back-to-back deliveries from Reece Topley before the left-arm pacer knocked off Shakib’s (1) bails. Soon, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (8) was also back in the hut.
That meant to have any chance of winning the game or at least rescuing their net run rate, Bangladesh needed Liton and Mushfiq to fire, and the duo combined for 72 runs for the fifth wicket.
Liton, who had been undergoing a lean patch and scored just one fifty in his past 12 innings, eventually overcame the dearth.
However, he never looked defensive in the process, as he started his innings in a flamboyant manner, smacking the English Chris Woakes for three fours in the first over.
Liton reached his 11th ODI fifty off just 38 balls, hitting seven fours and one maximum, and also pulled his side into three figures. However, the right-hander then edged one casually to get out on 76.
Mushfiq continued with Towhid Hridoy and formed a 43-run partnership before he gave a catch to Adil Rashid off Topley. Although the latter added 39 runs more in the lower order, it just reduced the margin.
Topley was the peak among the bowlers, claiming 4-43, while Woakes picked up 2.
Earlier, England made a flying start as their opening pair added 115 before Shakib bowled Johny Bairstow for 52.
Then, riding on Malan’s cracking 140 off 107 runs, his seventh ODI ton, and Joe Root’s whirlwind 68-ball 82, England were heading towards a score beyond 400.
However, the Bangladesh bowlers gave away just 66 runs in the final 10 overs and picked up six wickets, leading to England finishing on 364.
Shak Mahedi Hasan was the standout bowler for the Tigers, claiming 4-71, while Shoriful Islam took three. Taskin Ahmed and Shakib took one wicket each.
