Dawid Malan’s 145-ball 114* notwithstanding, there was very little to separate England and Bangladesh in the first one-day international on a turning track at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, on Wednesday. A narrow, three-wicket win has pushed visitors to a 1-0 lead, but two days later, at the same venue, challenges are unlikely to be much different, with the opportunity of ending Bangladesh’s defeatless run in ODI series at home since 2016.
For a team that’s entertaining the cricket world with the Bazball approach in Test cricket, and far in tune with that approach for several years in the limited overs cricket, England will be tested for their game against spin as well as patience to brace through tricky phases. Having said that, most of the pacers – across both teams – also had a good outing on the slow surface.
It helped that Bangladesh didn’t give a good account of themselves in familiar conditions, especially with the bat. Moreover, their talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and chief pacer Mustafizur Rahman didn’t come to the fore, and much would be expected of them. Bangladesh would be expected to put up a stronger show with the bat on Friday in order to level the series on Friday, ahead of the decider.
When: Friday, March 3, 2023, 12 Noon (Local Time)
Where: Bangladesh vs England, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka
What to expect: Tamim Iqbal believed that the team underperformed with the bat on a pitch where scoring 250 was possible. That would continue to remain the par-total for the second game as well in sunny conditions
Team News:
Bangladesh: Even as Bangladesh lost the game, they are unlikely to experiment with their XI, and would hope the seniors – Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman – make a more significant contribution
Probable XI: Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das, Najmul Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman
England: Despite most of the batters failing, the visitors wouldn’t want to tinker with the winning combination.
Probable XI: Jason Roy, Phillip Salt, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Jos Buttler (c/wk), Will Jacks, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood
What they said:
There was plenty in the wicket for both the seamers and spinners. If we are completely honest with ourselves, we can improve in the bowling as well. I thought we gifted a lot of extras. Plenty of areas to work on, but that’s a good thing to have when you have won the game. Small partnerships on wickets like these are of great value – Jos Buttler, England captain
I thought this wicket was a 250 surface, we were on track but then lost too many wickets. We bowled really well and fielded extremely well. But sometimes, you need to give it to an innings like the one Malan played. I thought we tried everything we had in the bowling options. We kept all the catching options. we kept it really tight. I’m really proud of the bowling. As I said, one man’s innings made the difference – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh captain
