England vs Bangladesh, a first after 2011 World Cup
England and Bangladesh battle it out in a virtual knockout on Monday. (Source: Reuters)
Bangladesh and England play out a virtual shootout at the Adelaide Oval on Monday. At stake is a berth in quarter-final of the World Cup. But what is interesting to note is that this is the first-ever ODI meeting between the two sides since the 2011 World Cup. In fact Bangladesh and England have played only 15 ODIs. Bangladesh have won just two of those matches and both victories have come in the last three ODIs between the two sides. (Full Coverage| Points table| Fixtures)
In the last edition of the World Cup, it was co-host Bangladesh who emerged winner by a narrow two-wicket margin. In that match, England were bowled out for 225 with Jonathan Trott (67) and Eoin Morgan (63) doing bulk of the scoring. Bangladesh’s chase was progressing well till Imrul Kayes (60) was in the middle, but his wicket triggered a collapse. Bangladesh slipped from 155 for three to 169 for eight. Then Mahmudullah (21 n.o.) and Shafiul Islam (24 n.o.) added 58 runs for the ninth wicket to fashion a famous win for Bangladesh.
It is surprising to note that the two sides have not played since that heady night at Chittagong.
On Monday, it will be a fresh day for both sides because they don’t know much about each other. A lot has changed especially in terms of personnel and captaincy in both camps. “Yeah, what happened in the last World Cup doesn’t really matter. We have a different group of players. This group of players are very focused on how we’re going to play and how we’re going to pitch and play the best game we can, and that is the most important thing for us,” said England coach Peter Moores.
Moores has a point because England have just four survivors-Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, James Anderson and Ravi Bopara-from that playing XI in 2011. For Bangladesh, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfqiur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain are still there in the 2015 squad.
Interestingly, current ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza was not even in the squad in 2011. So Mortaza will have a lot to prove when play starts at Adelaide. Mortaza insists that his squad is not looking at the 2011 win because the conditions were entirely different. “Yeah, that was in Bangladesh. It was four years back. I think that is a long time ago. We have to play good cricket, which is very important for us. Yes, it’s a nice memory for us also, but I think it depends how we play tomorrow. That is the main thing,” said Mortaza.
Hopefully, the Adelaide performance by Bangladesh will prompt England to play them more often.
Source:: Indian Express
