Dawid Malan has cracked an unbeaten century as world champions England defeated Bangladesh by three wickets in a low-scoring first one-day worldwide of their three-match sequence in Mirpur.
Set a modest goal of 210 on Wednesday thanks largely to Najmul Hossain Shanto’s maiden ODI fifty, England appeared in bother at 4-65 however Malan held the innings along with a 145-ball 114 to take the touring aspect over the end line with eight balls to spare.
The left-hander smashed eight fours and 4 sixes however, extra importantly, held his nerve as wickets tumbled on the different finish on a tough floor to carry up his fourth century with a boundary within the forty sixth over.
Ably supported by Adil Rashid (17 not out) in direction of the tip, Malan hit one other to the fence to settle the competition.
“I’ve spent a fair bit of time here in Bangladesh and at this ground and it definitely helps to have a little bit of experience,” mentioned participant of the match Malan, who has performed home cricket within the nation.
“I definitely didn’t find it easy. I said to Jos Buttler if they had got another 30, 40 more, it would have been incredibly tough to chase but credit to the way we hung in there with the ball and pegged them back after they had a decent start.
“We had been anticipating to lose wickets on a pitch like that. I do not suppose you’ll be able to stroll out considering you are going to knock it off two down.”
Shanto navigated the spin and bounce to score an 82-ball 58 and ensure Bangladesh had a platform to go past the 200-run mark after they looked set to fall well short at one point.
He made the most of being dropped on four by Jason Roy and got another reprieve to get to his fifty but his dismissal triggered a late collapse.
Earlier, skipper Tamim Iqbal made 23 at the top of the order having opted to bat first but he edged one on to the stumps in Mark Wood’s first over after Litton Das fell to Chris Woakes.
Paceman Wood removed the dangerous Mahmudullah for 31 and Jofra Archer grabbed two wickets after the spin trio of Moeen Ali (2-35), Rashid (2-47) and ODI debutant Will Jacks (1-18) combined to wreak havoc on the middle-order.
Bangladesh, who have won seven successive home ODI series after defeating India 2-1 in December, will look to respond when the teams face off at the same venue on Friday before the third game early next week.
England can even play three Twenty20 matches in Bangladesh as they search worthwhile expertise on Asian wickets for his or her 50-overs World Cup defence in India in October and November.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
