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Bangladesh once again asked England to bat after a difficult defeat to New Zealand. The defending champions scored 364 runs in the first innings against Bangladesh. Here is a recap of the first innings.
England controls the powerplay
The reigning champions dominated Bangladesh throughout the powerplay, with the exception of a close review call against Dawid Malan. Jonny Bairstow and Malan both hit boundaries to open their innings. On the first ball of the sixth over, Malan escaped Bangladesh’s close review. Malan was attempting to pull a short delivery from Mustafizur Rahman but was rushed by the speedier delivery. There was a distinct sound that originated from the shoulder rather than the bat. Malan hit a four and a six off Mustaifzur’s over in the same over. Off the following over by Mustaifzur, Malan hit another six. 61 runs were scored by England in the first 10 overs.
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Following the powerplay, the defending champion scored 47 runs in the following five overs, increasing the scoring rate. In just 39 balls, Malan reached his half-century in the 14th over. Bairstow also reached his fifty-first run in 54 balls during the sixteenth over. This was Bairstow’s third World Cup half-century. In the 18th over, Shakib al Hasan quickly dismissed him, ending the 115-run opening stand.
Root and Malan take control of the innings
For a while, the bowlers from Bangladesh kept things close, allowing only 13 runs from the 22nd to the 25th over. In the 26th over, Joe Root blasted Mustafizur for a six and then added a single to the 50-run partnership. He smacked Shakib for two fours in the next over. Malan then slammed a four to get into the nineties. In just 91 balls, Malan completed his century in the 32nd over. Shakib completed his ten overs by bowling 10-0-52-1. In 2023, Malan will have four centuries. With just one more century, he would surpass Jonny Bairstow (2018) and David Gower (1983) for the most centuries in a calendar year for an English batter. Malan scored two fours and two sixes in the next over as Mehidy Hasan Miraz gave up 22 runs in his first over of the new spell. In the following over, after 44 balls, Root reached his half-century with a boundary.
Root has now surpassed Graham Gooch as the English hitter with the most World Cup runs. In the 38th over, Mahedi Hasan removed the centurion Malan. Malan struck 16 fours and five sixes in his 140 runs off 107 balls. As of right now, this is the English batter’s fourth-highest World Cup score. Jos Buttler’s 20-run cameo came to an end when Shoriful Islam bowled the English captain with a knuckle ball.
England going into death overs poised for 400
At the completion of the 40th over, England had 298 runs for the loss of three wickets. With 80 runs in 63 balls, Joe Root appeared to be set, and youthful Harry Brook joined him. Shoriful Islam grabbed two wickets in only two balls in the second over of the death overs phase, outplaying the designated batters, Joe Root and Liam Livingstone. With the loss of the two consecutive wickets, the chances of reaching 400 decreased. Shakib made the bold decision to go for the spinner in death overs as Mahedi Hasan was asked to bowl the 45th over. Hasan dismissed Brook with just the third ball of his over, thus the strategy worked. At long-off, Litton Das completed the catch at long-off. Najmul Hossain Shanto made an outstanding catch to allow Mahedi to dismiss Sam Curran in his subsequent over. By dismissing Adil Rashid, Mahedi completed his four-fer, assisted by a relay catch from Towhid Hridoy and Shanto.