England continued their perfect start at the Men’s T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket thrashing of Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi.
After bowling West Indies out for 55 in their opening win, England restricted Bangladesh to 124-9 in another fine performance in the field.
Moeen Ali took two wickets in two balls in the third over, Tymal Mills claimed 3-27 and Liam Livingstone 2-15, while there was also a fine diving catch from Adil Rashid and a run-out.
Jason Roy then crashed 61 from 38 balls and Dawid Malan made a measured 28 not out as England raced to their target with 35 balls to spare.
Eoin Morgan’s side sit top of Group 1 after two games in the Super 12s.
Their next match is against Australia in Dubai on Saturday at 15:00 BST.
This may not have been as destructive or eye-catching as England’s six-wicket win over West Indies but it was almost as impressive.
Bangladesh, who came through the first round of the tournament to reach the Super 12, have the players, particularly their spinners, to pose problems to bigger sides. England swatted them aside with ease.
Again it was a victory built on strong bowling performance, a good sign for England’s hopes given it is supposedly their weaker suit.
Off-spinner Moeen, handed the new ball again, responded by removing openers Liton Das and Mohammad Naim with consecutive balls, Das top-edging to deep square leg and Naim tamely finding mid-on.
Chris Woakes, who took an immaculate 1-12 from four overs, collected the key wicket of Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid diving to take the ball dropping over his shoulder at short fine leg.
Bangladesh were 26-3 in the sixth over and from there England continued to take regular wickets, the tactical moves made by captain Eoin Morgan working perfectly.
Part-time spinner Liam Livingstone trapped Mushfiqur Rahim, who made 29, lbw on review in his first over and also had captain Mahmudullah taken at backward point for a stodgy 19 from 24 balls.
Tymal Mills took three lower-order wickets with his mix of pace and slower balls, including two off the final two deliveries of the innings.
Bangladesh’s total was never likely to be enough, a view only strengthened when Roy cracked the first ball of the chase for four.
Even with the loss of Jos Buttler, caught at long-off for a run-a-ball 18, Roy powered England to 63-1 at the end of the seventh over and the Bangladesh fielders’ body language was already that of a beaten side.
Roy, winning his 50th cap, hit powerful shots down the ground and inventive scoops in reaching a 33-ball fifty, before he found third man with a ramp off Shoriful Islam with 13 runs needed.
Pushed down the order and not needed against West Indies, Malan came out in his usual position of number three.
His place is the most debated in the England side and, while there was almost no pressure on him, his fluent innings was at least useful time in the middle.
Harder tests will come for England, but Morgan could not have asked for much more after two near flawless performances in two games.
England captain Eoin Morgan: “Our bowlers have started the tournament really well. It’s a huge compliment to how far our white-ball cricket has come along.
“It’s nice for Jason and Dawid to get some time at the wicket. Jason is so imposing and when you play like that on slow wickets, it makes it difficult to set fields.”
Player of the match Jason Roy: “That was a very special match for us. We had to back up our last performance against West Indies and we had to come out firing. A lot of credit goes to our bowlers.”
Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah: “We are very disappointed with the way we batted especially. It was a very good wicket to bat on but we didn’t make any partnership in the middle.”
Source: BBC
