ICC World Cup 2019: Match 12, England vs Bangladesh – Who Said What

England lost their second game of the 2019 World Cup against Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan. However, the Eoin Morgan-captained unit made an incredible comeback versus Bangladesh, beating them by 106 runs at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. It was also their second ODI triumph against the Tigers in the mega event since 2007. Back in 2011 and 2015, Bangladesh got the better of the Three Lions.

Jason Roy rules the roost

After losing the toss and being put in to bat first, the hosts racked up a massive score of 386. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow took the Brits off to a thunderous start courtesy of a 128-run stand in 19.1 overs. Bairstow notched his fifty in 48 balls after which Mashrafe Mortaza picked him up to give Bangladesh its first breakthrough. Thereafter, Joe Root joined Roy in the middle and they carried on the good work.

Roy notched his fifty in 38 balls and then got his century in 92 balls. The right-hander went on to score153 off 121 balls and his knock was laced with 14 boundaries and five sixes. Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked him up in the 35th over. Joe Root could only contribute a 29-ball 21. Jos Buttler batted at number four and scored a quick-fire 64 with two fours and a couple of sixes. Eoin Morgan got 35 off 33 balls.

Ben Stokes got out to Mustafizur Rahman in a bid to up the scoring rate. Bangladesh would be hurt by the damage inflicted by the lower order batsmen- Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett. Even as Woakes hammered an eight-ball 18, Plunkett stayed unbeaten on 27. Throughout the 50 overs, the Tigers bowlers looked short of gas as the Three Lions amassed a humungous 386 for the loss of six wickets.

Shakib Al Hasan – Bangladesh’s lone fighter

Jofra Archer rattled Soumya Sarkar’s woodwork in the fourth over and Bangladesh didn’t get off to the best of starts. Tamim Iqbal didn’t look comfortable in the middle and perished to Mark Wood after scoring 19. With the Tigers needing over 300 runs, the onus was on Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim to help their team make a comeback. The duo stitched together a stand of 106 vital runs.

Meanwhile, the required rate kept mounting at an alarming rate. Shakib accomplished his half-century off 53 balls and then brought up his eighth ODI ton off 95 balls. His previous ODI  ton also came in Cardiff back in 2017. Mushfiqur was looking good, having scored 44 off 50, but Liam Plunkett accounted for his wicket. Mohammad Mithun couldn’t open his account, giving his wicket away to Adil Rashid.

Shakib was looking ominous at 121 off 119 balls and it took a deadly Yorker from Stokes to send him packing. Mosaddek Hossain played some free-flowing shots to get 26 off 16 and he became Stokes victim. Mahmudullah went back after scoring 28 off 41 balls. At that point in time, the writing was pretty much on the walls for Bangladesh and they eventually ended their innings on 290 in their 48.5 overs.

Jason Roy, the Player of the Match, said

It was great to get out there and put in a big performance. Just the way Jonny and myself, we built the innings well, weren’t quite sure how the pitch will behave. With that batting line-up, no matter what we get off the first 10 overs, batting the whole 50, we’re gonna get a big score. We’ve been doing pretty well together over the past couple of years. We have nothing much to worry about. We just go out there and get the job done. I didn’t have a chance to chat with him (Morgan). He’s obviously going to be very happy. We righted our wrongs. I’m extremely happy

Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh captain, said

386 is too many, credit goes to their batsmen. It’s very difficult to get him once gets set. We knew we have to get Roy out, only then we could have come back in the match. The pitch was under cover for one and a half day, so it was a straight decision to bowl first. We need luck sometimes to get those wickets. 330 could have been a different chase but as I said this score was too much. Shakib is batting so well for us at number 3. His bowling also has been fantastic. Still six matches to go and hopefully others step up in those games.

Eoin Morgan, the England captain, said

I think more positives from this game. We took a lot of positives from the last game too. We were outstanding with the bat today. The openers laid the foundation as Roy was intimidating upfront. Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett all contributed. I think majority of the teams will open with spin against us. Whether it’s spin, swing, whatever we are prepared. With Archer, Wood, Woakes, Stokes it’s wonderful. It’s an area to work on, it was an improved peformance in the field today. Buttler was rested as a precautionary measure as he got some problem with the hip.