England put their opening-day defeat against New Zealand firmly behind them when they beat Bangladesh by 137 runs in the Cricket World Cup in Dharamshala.
The defending champions were utterly humbled by the Kiwis in a nine-wicket defeat that left viewers stunned, and even more problematically, dealt a significant blow to the side’s net run rate.
The Himalayan foothills provided a stunning backdrop to the occasion, and despite pre-match discussions being dominated by concerns around the nature of the pitch, it did not have any significant effect on the performance. Speaking to reporters on the eve of the clash, Jos Buttler described the pitch as “poor”, claiming it was different to the one used when he played at the same ground during the IPL, but England emerged victorious and having boosted their net run rate.
The pitch was also a cause for concern when Afghanistan played against Bangladesh there, as Mujeeb Ur Rahman jarred his knee in the sandy turf diving for a ball, and head coach and former England batter Jonathan Trott said players were “unsure” over their footing.
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