CT 2017: Match 1, ENG v BAN - 5 Game Changing Moments

The most anticipated tournament of the year finally kicked off today at Kennington Oval, and it was the home side which took on a buoyant Bangladesh side who qualified for the tournament by overtaking sides such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and West Indies in the ICC One Day rankings. Tamim Iqbal lit up the entire venue with his sparkling century and was ably supported by Mushfiqur Rahim. The duo helped their team to post a competitive total of 305.

As it turned out, it was England who won the match by the virtue of a clinical performance, as they came out victorious by 8 wickets. However, their contributions were no match in comparison to the exploits from Root, Hales and Morgan as they powered their side towards victory. Joe Root was adjudged as the man of the match for his magnificent ton. Let us look at some of the game-changing moments which might have affected the result of the match.

1. Steady Start from Bangladesh

Bangladesh didn’t feel the pressure on the big stage as they calmly managed to see off the new ball without losing too many wickets. Tamim Iqbal was well supported by Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes who chipped in with 28 and 19 runs respectively. The Asian team were looking at a big score by the end of the 19th as they were comfortably placed at 95-1. Bangladesh could have been easily overwhelmed by the occasion. Instead, the top-order laid a solid foundation for the stars in the line-up to capitalise on.

2. Tamim Iqbal- Mushfiqur Rahim Partnership

Mushfiqur walked in when his team were delicately placed at 95-2. Together with Tamim Iqbal, the experienced duo added 166 runs in 151 balls. Mushfiqur played one of the best ODI innings of his career as he smashed 79 runs off just 72 balls at a strike rate of almost 110, consisting of eight boundaries. Tamim Iqbal brought up yet another brilliant century as he amassed 128 runs in 142 balls, hitting a whopping 12 boundaries and three maximums. The duo helped set up a perfect platform for the likes of Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah and Shakib al Hasan.

3. Bangladesh losing impetus

Even though Sabbir Rehman scored a quickfire 15-ball 24, Bangladesh would have been disappointed about the final score they put up in front of the Englishmen. One had a feeling that Bangladesh were 25-30 runs short of the required target as the English bowlers came back beautifully to restrict the batsmen to 305. In the last 5 overs, Bangladesh could only manage 46 and also lost 4 key wickets to lose momentum during the fag end of the match. After the end of the 40th over with 8 wickets in hand, it was expected that team would reach a total of 330+

4. Morgan, Root and Hales batting Bangladesh out of the game 

After the initial blow to England by losing Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Joe Root weaved a match-winning partnership which deflated the hopes of the Bangladeshi bowlers. Hales missed out on his ton, as he departed scoring 85 off just 86 balls, at a strike rate of 110, hitting 11 fours and 2 sixes.

The English innings was divided into two massive partnership between Hales-Root and Root-Morgan. Hales and Root added 159 off just 153 balls whereas Root and Morgan amassed 143 runs off 116 balls, finishing the job for their country.

Man of the match Joe Root looked at his superior best as he scored an unbeaten 133 off just 129 deliveries, acting as sheath anchor as well as the dominator in fluctuations. Morgan came in and played a captain’s knock of 75 at a strike rate of 123. The trio ensured Bangladesh were never in the game by milking the ball as well as hitting the boundaries as and when required.

5. Non-penetrative Bangladeshi bowling attack

Much was expected out of the Bangladeshi bowling attack and they disappointed by not able to defend a healthy total of 305. The fact that they lost by 8 wickets would hurt them the most which would imply that Bangladeshi bowlers only managed to pick up only two wickets in 47.2 overs. Shakib al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman were ineffective as they remained wicketless throughout the innings. Rubel Hussain proved to be expensive as he gave away 64 runs in his quota of 10 overs.