Bangladesh suffer crushing 137-run defeat against England

England produced an all-round effort to hand Bangladesh a 137–run drubbing to register their first victory of the ICC World Cup 2023 in Dharamshala on Tuesday. 

After presenting Bangladesh with a steep 364-run target, the Three Lions bundled out Shakib Al Hasan's side for 227 in 48.2 overs, courtesy of pacer Reece Topley who starred with figures of four wickets for 43 runs, his second-best ODI figures.

While Topley did the damage with the new ball, taking the scalps of three of the top four, he was aptly supported by Chris Woakes, who picked up two.

Opener Liton Das top-scored with a 66-ball 76 as he put away seven fours and two sixes but his knock came to a disappointing end when he edged a slower one off Woakes to leave Bangladesh five down for 121 in the 21st over. 

Mushfiqur Rahim's 64-ball 51 and Towhid Hridoy's 61-ball 39 could only manage to reduce the margin of defeat as Bangladesh, who won their opening fixture against Afghanistan, were outclassed by defending champions England.

Bangladesh's chase saw a very familiar scenario as Topley ran through the top order in a span of two overs. He nicked off opener Tanzid Hasan in the second over of the innings and in the very next ball sent back the in-form Najmul Hossain Shanto for a golden duck. He saved his best for Tigers skipper Shakib as he pitched one on a length and managed to sneak past the left-hander's defence to take the top of off-stump.

With Bangladesh already staring at a crushing defeat, Topley came back with the old ball to send back Mushfiqur Rahim in the 31st over. The right-handed batter perished in a familiar fashion as he was held out at third-man after he uppercut a short and wide one from the left-arm pacer. 

Earlier, England piled on the runs on the back of a masterful 107-ball 140 from opener Dawid Malan which included a whopping 16 fours and five sixes after being sent into bat. The left-handed batter put on a 115-run opening stand with Jonny Bairstow, who scored a 59-ball 52 on his 100th ODI appearance and then put his foot down on the gas along with Joe Root with a 151-run partnership in which Root scored a brisk 68-ball 82 laced with eight fours and a six. 

Apart from Shakib, all Bangladesh bowlers struggled to keep a lid on proceedings. The left-arm spinner picked up the wicket of Bairstow and gave away 52 runs, while all other bowlers went at run-rates of over six an over. 
Off-spinner Sheikh Mahedi Hasan picked up four wickets for 71 runs, while Shoriful Islam scalped three for 75.