Ian Bell chimes in as England beat Bangladesh
Having won the World Twenty20 title and then beaten http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in a one-day international series less than a fortnight ago, England were hardly going to be hanging out the banners for defeating Bangladesh.
However, a winning mentality is something that, once acquired, should not be given away lightly and England went about the job with quiet efficiency for a six-wicket victory in the first NatWest Series match at Trent Bridge which was led by an unbeaten 84 in 101 balls from Ian Bell.
Bangladesh’s innings set off at a pace that would not have been out of place in a Twenty20 match. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tamim-Iqbal-c2640, whom England's bowlers have learned to treat with respect, set the tone. James Anderson's first two balls were sent to the boundary and Tim Bresnan received similar treatment.
After only eight deliveries Iqbal had scored 19 but Stuart Broad applied the brakes for England in the fourth over when he had the adventurous opener trapped lbw for 28. With calm restored for the fielding side kept Bangladesh to 47 after 10 overs, which was just 10 more than it had been after five overs.
Anderson bowled Imrul Kayes, for 14, and took two late wickets but his 10 overs cost 74 and it was Michael Yardy who made the next significant breakthrough with Junaid Siddique, who had made steady progress, lbw for 51. Raqibul Hasan reached a seventh ODI 50 and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mushfiqur-Rahim-c2045 increased the pace with two well-struck sixes but it all started to go wrong once Raqibul was run out for 76, with Shakib Al Hasan acting as his runner, in what was really something of a muddle.
Raqibul was one of four wickets that fell for just 24 runs in the final five overs of the innings, as Bangladesh reached 250-9 in their 50 overs, with Broad, playing only 24 hours after the death of his step-mother, the pick of England's attack with a return of 2-43.
Andrew Strauss set England off to a flying start until he was run out. The captain had raced to 50 off just 37 balls before a rather ambitious attempt for a single in the 12th sent him back to the pavilion.
Bell came in at No.3, taking over from the injured Kevin Pietersen's in his first one-day international since November 2008. The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warwickshire-c862 batsman has often been criticised for not taking the initiative but he showed the maturity that has been seen in his play of late when others did not last.
Kieswetter kept the score ticking over when he hit Razzak for six over extra-cover but fell for 32 when he tried the same with Shakib Al Hasan in the 15th over and was caught by Faisal Hossain. He was replaced by Paul Collingwood who clocked up 33 from 49 balls until he became Shakib’s second wicket, caught http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Junaid-Siddique-c1749, 16 overs later.
Eoin Morgan, who had been in such sparkling form in the previous series against Australia, scored a breezy 23 from just 26 deliveries but it was Bell – who reached his half-century off 68 balls – who took England through to a victory, with the assistance of Yardy, with 29 balls to spare.
“We were pretty happy with the way we dealt with the ball except maybe the start. It was a pretty clinical and professional chase and we are happy to have won the game,” Strauss said, adding about his run out “It was my fault, just one of those things.”
Strauss praised the performance of Bell, who took the man-of-the-match award. "Belly's being dying to get his opportunity and he took it today,” Strauss said.
Bell, who some had thought might have run out of chances in ODI’s, said: “It was an opportunity to get some time at the crease. I think I know where I am in this squad ad it’s important to take these opportunities. It's starting to come together quite nicely and I've just got to keep improving on that now.”
There was very little improvement for Bangladesh with the news that they had lost two players, with both Mushfiqur Rahim and Raqibul http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990 are out of the rest of the series.
Mushfiqur, the wicketkeeper, was carried off the field on a stretcher after being struck in the face standing up to Faisal Hossain delivery. He was taken to hospital for X-rays, while it was discovered that Raqibul had fractured a toe after being struck by an Anderson yorker.
Battered and, in some cases, broken, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 must pull themselves together for the second match of the series at Bristol on Saturday.
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