Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first in the game. However, they could not stop England from posting a big score. Malan and fellow opener Jonny Bairstow (52 off 59) added 115 for the first wicket. The stand was broken when Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan cleaned up Bairstow for 52 off 59 balls.
Malan and Joe Root (82 off 68) then added 151 runs for the second wicket as there was no respite for Bangladesh bowlers and fielders. Malan went on to complete a well-deserved century and kept attacking even after that. He struck 16 fours and five sixes in an exceptional innings before being bowled by Mahedi Hasan. Root missed out on three figures as he was caught behind off Shoriful Islam.
Before Root, Shoriful had cleaned up England captain Jos Buttler for 20. Root’s wicket was followed by that of Liam Livingstone (0) who was knocked over by a brute. Bangladesh kept chipping away at the England lower order. Mahedi Hasan finished with 4/71 and Shoriful with 3/75. However, England still finished on an extremely healthy 364/9.
Chasing 360, Bangladesh lost four wickets before they could reach the 50-run mark. Topley sent back Tanzid Hasan (1) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (0) off consecutive deliveries. He then produced a jaffa to clean up Shakib. Mehidy Hasan Miraz perished for 8, caught behind off Chris Woakes.
Litton Das top-scored for Bangladesh with 76 off 66 balls before he too was caught behind off Woakes. Veteran keeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim contributed 51 off 64, while Towhid Hridoy scored 39 off 61, but Bangladesh were never in the hunt in the chase. They were eventually bowled out for 227 in 48.2 overs.
Speaking after the important win, England skipper Buttler said, “Really good performance, stuck to our guns. Really important for us after a bad performance earlier. The back end, I think we should have scored a few more. It was fantastic to see Dawid Malan stand up and get a big hundred after what happened first game. We are always looking for the perfect performance.”
--By A Cricket Correspondent
