Bangladesh vs England, Adelaide Oval Stadium in Adelaide - 9th March 2015 - Match Review
Bangladesh beat England by 15 runs.
The equation was pretty simple for both Bangladesh and England before this game. The winner would most likely proceed to the Quarter Final and face India. Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided that England will chase. There were a couple of changes to both the sides. England brought in Alex Hales and Chris Jordan as expected in place of Gary Ballance and Steve Finn. Bangladesh brought in Arafat Sunny and Imrul Kayes.
James Anderson, who had taken just 2 wickets thus far in this World Cup doubled his tally by the end of his 2nd over as he got the ball to curl and hoop, properties which make him such a dangerous customer. Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah Riyad began the recovery process from that stage and played with caution but still took advantage of any loose ball. Sarkar was dismissed by Jordan in the 21st over, the Bangladesh score reading 94. It soon became 99-4 as Shakib al Hasan presented a simple catch to Joe Root in the slip off Moeen Ali. Bangladesh were now in a hole and needed a solid partnership to take them to a score of any respectability.
Mushfiqur Rahim joined Mahmudullah and the two of them went about collecting runs in a non fussed manner. Mahmudullah brought up his 50 off 69 balls and Bangladesh reached 150 in the 33rd over. The batting power play yielded 37 runs as the two Bangladeshi batsmen did not take any undue risks. Mushfiqur got to his 50 off just 49 balls and a big total loomed for England. Mahmudullah hit the first century by a Bangladeshi batsman in World Cup, the previous highest being Tamim Iqbal's 95 that he had scored the other day against Scotland. Bangladesh lost their way a bit towards the end but still made a competitive 275/7 at the end of their 50 overs.
England began brightly as Moeen Ali and Ian Bell both found the boundaries with relative ease. But a mix up ended the fruitful partnership as England lost Moeen Ali with the score reading 43 in the 8th over. Alex Hales, in the side in place of Ballance hit a few fours and was largely convincing but edged through to Mushfiqur when on 27. Bell departed after a painstaking 63 off 82 balls leaving on England 121-3. England slipped further in a hole as captain Morgan departed without opening his account and James Taylor could make just a solitary run. England were 312-5 in the 30th over and staring at an early exit.
Joe Root also went soon after after grinding out 29 runs from 47 balls and England now needed a miracle to keep their World Cup campaign alive. The two men at the crease were Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler. Buttler and Woakes steadied the English ship and opened up after a few overs playing freely. Buttler especially was playing superbly and hitting boundaries at will. He fell with the England score on 238, he made 65 off 52 balls. Jordan was run out off the very next ball as a huge mix up between him and Woakes ensued. The match was getting tighter. Broad hit a lusty six and Woakes hit a couple of boundaries to give England hope but Rubel Hossain returned to clean up both Broad and Anderson in the 49th over to seal a famous Bangla win!
The Bangladesh Players are over the moon after their historic win against the English by 15 runs
at Adelaide Oval to find a place in the Quarter Finals
The English team has had a woeful World Cup campaign and they have a last game against Afghanistan remaining which is pretty meaningless. They have been annihilated this World Cup suffering huge losses to Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and now this. Bangladesh, well they have deserved this win. They have been the better side right through the World Cup and this victory means that they will most likely face India in the Quarter Finals. It was certainly a night to remember for the Bangladeshi fans and I hope they live up in the knock outs as well!
PS - The image used is courtesy www.espncricinfo.com
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