For nearly seven years Bangladesh had not lost a home series in a format they appeared, albeit in very specific and familiar conditions, close to mastering. It has taken only two games for England to end that run, with the Tigers’ chances of chasing a daunting target of 327 – Jason Roy this time the tourists’ key figure with the bat – in effect destroyed when Sam Curran ripped through their top order with three wickets in his first seven balls. They eventually fell short by 132 runs, precisely Roy’s personal contribution.
After a similarly impressive effort in Bloemfontein in January, this was Roy’s second century in five ODI innings (though he scored a combined 14 in the other three) and was further indication that reports of his demise as a white-ball batter of international class have been greatly exaggerated.
“I’ve been putting in the work and staying focused, keeping my head down and trying to ignore the smoke that’s been around my form,” he said. “I’m my biggest critic. I understand I’ve not been in the greatest of form, but I’ve been playing decent cricket and hitting the ball well, so I felt it was just a matter of time. To score runs in these sorts of conditions, on a slow turner where it’s a bit inconsistent, as far as your skillsets go as a batsman it’s as rewarding as it can get.”
Adil Rashid – who spent much of Thursday, a day off for the rest of the team, locked in a hotel room giving evidence to the Yorkshire racism inquiry – had no problem switching focus. He did not bowl until the 24th over of Bangladesh’s innings but proceeded to mangle their middle order, and an innings that started with the loss of two wickets in as many balls of a Curran over ended the same way – albeit this time the first was a run-out, Moeen Ali’s 20-yard direct hit from mid-off doing for Taskin Ahmed.
Bangladesh had built their formidable record by producing surfaces – and bowling attacks – capable of restricting totals to manageable levels, but here England ripped up the script. The hosts had never chased a score in excess of 300 to win a match, and after Curran’s early impact never looked remotely likely to do so. “When you lose two wickets in the first over and then another in the third, you kind of are in trouble,” their captain, Tamim Iqbal, said.
Tamim and Shakib al-Hasan brought some stability to the innings, but no great fireworks. England’s bowling might have looked less formidable with Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer replaced by Curran and Saqib Mahmood – making his first international appearance in 12 injury-affected months – but still they had no answers. Tamim shanked Moeen to deep extra cover when he was on 35 and Shakib completed a 60th ODI half-century before becoming Rashid’s first victim, but the scoring was never more than pedestrian. “Chasing 326, someone had to take some chances – unfortunately when I tried to do it, it didn’t pay off,” Tamim said. “But we have lost a series after seven years – it’s not easy to hold that kind of record.”
Roy alone scored as many boundaries as Bangladesh. When out of sorts he can be a depressing sight, and after being dismissed cheaply in Wednesday’s first game he started awkwardly here, but he grew in authority with every run to eventually threaten a genuine rampage: there were 12 fours in the 104 balls it took to reach his hundred and six more in the next 18, culminating in Taskin being dismantled in a 35th over that featured three boundaries – one, benefiting Jos Buttler, thanks to one of several misfields. But just as he reached peak Roy, a bull demolishing so much cheap crockery, he was trapped lbw by Shakib.
Phil Salt, Dawid Malan and James Vince – who posted a second single-digit score in a row – fell cheaply, and it took the arrival of Buttler for England to start powering towards a match-winning total. He scored 76 off 64 before, immediately after hitting Mehidy Hasan Miraz for successive sixes, being trapped lbw. “Me and Jos said to each other it was going to be tough for anyone coming in,” Roy said. “Luckily it wasn’t – the guys came in with their skills and smacked it everywhere.”
Moeen, with 42 off 35, and Curran’s unbeaten 19-ball 33 powered England’s sprint finish – and the latter’s most significant impact was still to come.
