Press Trust of India
Adelaide, March 9: Bangladesh handed a killer blow to England knocking out the three-time finalists from the World Cup here Monday. The Bangla Tigers hunted down the English Lions by 15 runs to set up a quarterfinal clash with defending champions India.
Put into bat, Bangladesh rode on Mahmudullah’s (103, 138b, 7×4, 2×6) resilient century to post 275 for seven and then put up a spirited bowling show to pack England for 260 runs in 48.3 overs. Man of the Match Mahmudullah was helped by Mushfiqur Rahim (89, 77b, 8×4) and the two put on 141 runs for the fifth wicket to rescue the side after they had slipped to a precarious 99 for the loss of four wickets. England medium pacers James Anderson (2/45) and Chris Jordan (2/59) bowled well.
England started the chase on a decent note even after opener Moeen Ali (19) was run out but the top-order batsmen failed to convert their starts and let go of the advantage in the must-win game. Bangladesh bowlers, ably led by Robel Hossian (4/53), struck at crucial junctures to dash English hopes.
Ian Bell (63, 82b, 7×4) did his bit at the top, but Hossian got the opener caught behind in the 27th over. The middle-order wobbled only to be held by Jos Buttler (65, 52b, 6×4, 1×6), who fought hard but his seventh ODI fifty was not enough to save England’s fading fortunes. It was his dismissal in the 46th over that signalled the beginning of the end.
Chris Woakes (42 n o, 40b, 3×4) battled hard till the end but got little help from the tail as Hossain cleaned up the final two batsman with good seam movement in the 49th over. He dismissed Stuart Broad and Anderson within the space of three deliveries to spark off huge celebration among his teammates as well as the supporters in the stands. Hossian got good support from captain and pace spearhead Mashrafe Mortaza (2/48) and Taskin Ahmed (2/59).
Mahmudullah bettered Bangladesh’s previous individual best of 95 made by Tamim Iqbal against Scotland earlier the tournament.
Paceman Anderson had provided England a fiery start by removing both the openers — Imrul Kayes (2) and Tamim Iqbal (2) — in his first two overs but the following batsmen showed a lot determination. Mahmudullah first shared a 86-run stand with Soumya Sarkar (40) to stabilise the innings and then combined with Rahim to stitch up a decent total.
Scoreboard:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal c Root b Anderson 2, Imrul Kayes c Jordan b Anderson 2, Soumya Sarkar c Buttler b Jordan 40, Mohammad Mahmudullah r o 103, Shakib Al Hasan c Root b Ali 2, Mushfiqur Rahim c Jordan b Broad 89, Sabbir Rahman c Morgan b Jordan 14, Mashrafe Mortaza n o 6, Arafat Sunny n o 3, Extras: (b-1, lb-4, w-8, nb-1) 14; Total: (for seven wickets) 275.
Fall: 1-3, 2-8, 3-94, 4-99, 5-240, 6-261, 7-265.
Bowling: James Anderson 10-1-45-2, Stuart Broad 10-0-52-1, Chris Jordan 10-0-59-2, Chris Woakes 10-0-64-0, Moeen Ali 9-0-44-1, Joe Root 1-0-6-0.
England: Moeen Ali r o 19, Ian Bell c Rahim b Rubel 63, Alex Hales c Rahim b Mortaza 27, Joe Root c Rahim b Mortaza 29, Eoin Morgan c Shakib b Rubel 0, James Taylor c Kayes b Taskin 1, Jos Buttler c Rahim b Taskin 65, Chris Woakes n o 42, Chris Jordan r o 0, Stuart Broad b Rubel 9, James Anderson b Rubel 0, Extras: (lb-4, nb-1) 5; Total: (all out in 48.3 overs) 260.
Fall: 1-43, 2-97, 3-121, 4-121, 5-132, 6-163, 7-238, 8-238, 9-260.
Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 10-0-48-2, Rubel Hossain 9.3-0-53-4, Arafat Sunny 8-0-42-0, Shakib-al-Hasan 10-0-41-0, Taskin Ahmed 9-0-59-2, Sabbir Rahman 2-0-13-0.
