Bangladesh v England: ICC Champions Trophy 2017 preview
The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will start with the mouth-watering contest between hosts England and a strong Bangladesh side that enjoyed a stunning run in the 50-over format over the past 18 months.
Enjoy the International Cricket Council’s preview of the Bangladesh v England game.
Match: England v Bangladesh
Group: Group A
Date: Thursday, June 1
Venue: The Oval, London
Head2Head in ODIs:
England has had overwhelming success against Bangladesh over the past 15 years, having lost only three games out of the 16 played against the Asian side. At home, England has enjoyed an emphatic record against Bangladesh, losing only one game out of the six played between the two sides.
Greatest ODI encounter:
Despite England’s excellent success rate against Bangladesh, the teams’ most recent encounter at an ICC event, at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Adelaide, didn’t go well for the Eoin Morgan-led side.
James Anderson got the early breakthroughs, reducing Bangladesh to 8 for 2, but then a third-wicket stand of 86 between Soumya Sarkar (40) and Mahmudullah (103), and an even better fifth-wicket stand of 141 between Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim (89) lifted the side to 275 for 7.
England, chasing 276 in a must-win game, succumbed to the skilful bowling of Rubel Hossain, and the smart captaincy of Mashrafe Mortaza. It stuck in with brief partnerships, and looked to dominate with a solid stand between Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes. But in the end, Mortaza used Taskin Ahmed to get rid of Buttler just when he was looking dangerous. From then on, Hossain took over to clean the tail up and clinch the thriller.
England would rue that loss, since it halted its progress to the next round of the tournament.
Previous Champions Trophy encounter:
Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi, October 5, 2000
England won by eight wickets with 6.1 overs to spare
PoM: Alec Stewart
Javed Omar (63) and Naimur Rahman (46) helped Bangladesh to a sizeable total of 232 before England’s Nasser Hussain (91) and Alec Stewart (87*) took the game into their hands and completed a clinical run chase.
Previous World Cup encounters:
Adelaide Oval, March 9, 2015
Bangladesh won by 15 runs
PoM: Mahmudullah
Mahmudullah (103), Mushfiqur Rahim (89) and Soumya Sarkar (40) helped Bangladesh post a strong total of 275 before Rubel Hossain’s 4 for 53 ensured England fell short by 15 runs.
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong, March 11, 2011
Bangladesh won by two wickets
PoM: Imrul Kayes
Bangladesh’s bowlers restricted England to 225 despite Trott (67) and Morgan’s (63) 109-run partnership. With contributions from the rest of the batsmen, Imrul Kayes’s 60 helped Bangladesh seal a thrilling two-wicket win.
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, April 11, 2007
England won by four wickets
PoM: Sajid Mahmood
Sajid Mahmood (3-27) and Monty Panesar (3-25) restricted Bangladesh to 143 before the English batsmen, despite losing wickets at regular intervals, completed the chase with 31 balls to spare.
Key players for each side:
Mustafizur Rahman has added a new dimension to Bangladesh’s fast bowling department. Batsmen have found it hard to pick his slower deliveries, and have often lost their wickets to him in the death overs. With pace-friendly conditions in England, Mustafizur’s variety and ability to swing the ball both ways could prove vital. If England’s batting at the death has to be countered, there’s no other man suited better for the job.
England’s pace bowling department has been its strength, especially at home. But against a side like Bangladesh, England would need to bat at its very best to counter the skill that its opponent has shown with the ball in recent times. From their pool of extremely talented batsmen, one would have to pick Jos Buttler to fire. On his day, he can batter any opposition out of the game.
Key facts:
-Eoin Morgan, the England captain, has an average of 38.14 against Bangladesh in ODIs, with one century and one fifty against his name. Amongst the current squad, he has the most runs against Bangladesh.
-Bangladesh has beaten England in the teams’ last two 50-over encounters in the ICC World Cup: in Chittagong in 2011 with a thrilling two-wicket win and in 2015 when it knocked England out in Adelaide.
-England has never won the ICC Champions Trophy or ICC Cricket World Cup but it has reached two finals, in 2004 and 2013.
-England’s third highest ODI Total of 391 came against Bangladesh in Nottingham in 2005.
Best at Champions Trophy:
England: Runners-up 2004 and 2013
Bangladesh: Group stages