Filed under: Cricket, England Cricket, World Cup, ODIs, Bangladesh Cricket
England 225 (Jonathan Trott 67, Eoin Morgan 63) Bangladesh (Imrul Kayes 60, Ajmal Shahzad 3-43) Bangladesh won by two wickets.A brave ninth wicket partnership between Shafiul Islam and Mohammad Mahmadullah gave Bangladesh an historic victory - to leave England's World Cup hopes hanging in the balance.
The duo had a capacity crowd in Chittagong in a state of delirium as Bangladesh recorded only their second ever win in 14 ODI games against England to punish another slipshod performance from Andrew Strauss' men which leaves them needing to win their final game against the West Indies to ensure a place in the last eight.
Strauss' record-equalling 60th game as ODI captain will be another that he would like to forget as England plumbed the depths again to add to their embarrassing defeat to Ireland earlier in the group stages as Bangladesh rebounded from being bowled out for 58 in their previous game against the West Indies in style.
England v Bangladesh Scorecard
Victory looked to be in England's grasp when the co-hosts capitulated to 169-8, but the ninth wicket pair produced a scintillating partnership of 58 from 56 balls to guide their side to an improbable victory and keep alive their chances of making the quarter-finals.
England served up 33 extras and were punished for another poor batting performance and were reduced to arguing with umpire Daryl Harper, culminating in a foul-mouthed burst from Graeme Swann over the wet ball, which could cost him a percentage of his match fee in an ICC fine.
The crazy run out of Imrul Kayes (60), sparked a collapse which saw four wickets tumble for seven runs and England had victory in their grasp thanks to Ajmal Shahzad's career-best contribution of 3-43, but Bangladesh held their nerve while England's crumbled.
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The average first innings total in ODIs in Chittagong was 202, but there was a feeling that England's total was at least 30-runs short, despite being rescued by the impressive return of Eoin Morgan to the side.
The latest experiment with Matt Prior as an opener, in place of Kevin Pietersen, was another desperate failure and was ended by his comical stumping as he, Ian Bell and Strauss departed in quick succession, unable to cope with the co-hosts vast array of slow bowlers.
Their lack of impact was made more embarrassing by the manner in which Morgan, who only arrived from England three days before the game and had not practised, struck 63 from 72 deliveries and eight of the paltry total of 15 boundaries on his way to his 11th ODI half century.
The only support he recieved was from Jonathan Trott, but it was painfully slow from the Warwickshire batsman, who used up 99 balls for his 67 and when England's top two scorers departed within quick succession the rest of the lower order was unable to accelerate and perished in a flurry of flailing shots as the last five wickets fell for 30 runs.
England looked a ragged bunch as Kayes and captain Shakib Al Hasan were picking off the target, until Kayes attempted a suicidal second run to Shahzad and was run out, but the penultimate pair held their nerve to get Bangladesh over the line.
REACTION:
Strauss is getting fed up of playing in tight contests and England's failure to get over the line:
"We are making things hard for ourselves all the time. We wanted to win the game and win it well.
"We did not bat very well, but I thought 225 was a competitive score on that wicket if we could bowl and field well, but we did not do that as well as we would have liked."
On whether he feels they should have won the game:
"Even though we did not bowl as well as we would have liked with the new ball, we got ourselves into a great position to win the game, but we could not get the final two wickets."
On which was more disappointing, England's batting, or bowling:
"A bit of both really. To lose the three wickets early was a big mistake and then we lost our way with the new ball. We still fought hard and got into an excellent position, but could not put the final two nails in the coffin.
On the number of extras England conceded:
"In a low scoring game you cannot afford that many and it is very disappointing and it is a real missed opportunity, but you cannot dwell too long on it, you have to look forward.
On the return of Morgan:
"He batted brilliantly and he took the game to the bowlers at a time when it was difficult for any of the batsmen to do that. He is very good against the spinners and hopefully there is more to come from him."
On any other positives to take from the defeat:
"Shahzad bowled well at the end of the innings and that is a positive for us, but it is not enough and it is very disappointing.
On whether confidence has been affected by defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh:
"Of course the defeats hurt. It they do not hurt you should not be playing the game. We have to channel our frustration in the correct manner and that means channel it into beating our next opponents."
On the West Indies game:
"It is a big game for us now and we are going to have to win it."
Al Hasan thought the game had gone from his side when they slumped to 169-8:
"I thought we had lost it. I did not know that Shafiul could play like that. When we hit the last runs I believed, but before that I never believed we would win."
On the mental strength of his team when the game looked gone:
"At the end showed fantastic character and they both played with great heart to take us to victory."
On what it means for the country:
"It means a hell of a lot to everyone in the country. We are very emotional about our cricket and every time we do well the fans are like that. It was a great win for us and hopefully we can move on from here."
On what Bangladesh have to do to qualify:
"We have two big games left and we probably will need to win both of them. Otherwise we will have to rely on other teams and we don't want to do that.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: Kayes' runs earned him the man of the match award, but his superb running catch in the deep to dismiss Morgan when the England danger-man was looking to accelerate was a crucial turning point in the game.
PLAY OF THE DAY: Prior can be accused of a major lapse in concentration when he went walk about, but wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim's quick thinking to pull out one of the stumps to complete the stumping after he had initially broken the wickets was smart cricket, unlike his opposite number in the England ranks.
WHAT IT MEANS: England picked the wrong team yet again and the way they lost their cool and focus will be a huge concern for Flower. They are fortunate to have one more chance to make the quarter-finals, but any team that loses to Bangladesh and Ireland hardly deserves to be there. A huge question mark remains over their mental strength and in a must-win situation against the West Indies, it is hard to have too much confidence on them rising to the challenge.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/03/11/england-v-bangladesh-strauss-record-equalling-day-ends-in-anot/
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