Root hits timely ton, spoils Tamim century
London: Joe Root (133 n o, 129b, 13×4, 1×6) breezed to his 10th ODI hundred as title favourites England began their tournament campaign with an eight-wicket thrashing of Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy opener at the Kennington Oval here Thursday.
England’s Test captain put on 159 runs for the second wicket with Alex Hales (95, 86b, 11×4, 2×6) after the early loss of Jason Roy (1) and then put on an unfinished stand of 143 runs for the third wicket with skipper Eoin Morgan (75 n o, 61b, 8×4, 2×6) as England romped home 16 balls to spare.
Put in to bat, Bangladesh did well to post 305 for six with opener Tamim Iqbal (128, 142b, 12×4, 3×6) getting his ninth ODI hundred. The other major contribution came from Mushfiqur Rahim (79, 72b, 8×4). It was their 166 runs stand for the third wicket that put Bangladesh on a solid platform. But after Tamim’s dismissal in the 45th over at 261, the Bangladesh batsmen failed to explode and could only manage 305 for six.
England, who came into the tournament at the back of a series win against South Africa, were expected to overhaul the target comfortably at the Kennington Oval.
That is exactly what happened after the home team lost out-of-form opener Roy in the third over. However, Root and Hales then took the game away from Bangladesh. Root’s unbeaten effort was also his highest ODI score.
Hales however, missed out on a well-deserved hundred. He fell caught at deep mid-wicket trying to hit Sabbir Rahman for a six.
Bangladesh bowlers made the job easier for England. They looked far from threatening and management’s decision to go in with four specialist bowlers on a flat wicket did not help their cause.
PTI
