Where did England Improve From Their Previous Loss?
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 were brought back down to earth with a thud as they crashed to a 144-run loss to the hosts England in the third and the final One Day International (ODI) between the two sides. England won the cricket series 2-1.
Here we discuss what England did to ensure that they did not have to face the ignominy of another embarassing defeat at the hands of the Bangladeshis.
Andrew Strauss leads from the front:
There cannot be too much doubt about who was responsible for the team's resurrection. Before the start of the game, the vice-captain of the English side, Paul Collingwood, had spoken to the media in his customary blunt fashion exhorting his teammates to shrug of complacency and come out with all their guns blazing at the opposition, of course being Bangladesh.
Collingwood failed to get going himself, but the one player who seemed to have heard him was his captain, Andrew Strauss.
Strauss led from the front and ensured that after the early hiccup in the form of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Kieswetter-c51708, the English side did not face any further dismissals until as late as the 40th over. Strauss went on to score his highest ever ODI score of 154, and in partnership with Jonathan Trott, had added enough runs to break the English record for the highest partnership for any wicket.
He had also broken the Bangladeshi backs and their morale!
Where were you Trott?
It was a wonder that Trott was ever dropped from the ODI side and made to play for the England Lions.
Probably the selectors wanted the best out of him and he showed that he could bat in the manner he did as well.
In the second ODI, Trott had been dismissed in the 90s, when the side was only six runs short of the Bangladeshi total. However, there was no such repeat performances, as Trott duly completed his century and ensured that he had managed to add 250 runs for the second wicket by the time he was dismissed in a bid to up the ante. Trott scored 110 and ensured that the win was always going to be England’s.
Ravi Bopara comes to the party with the bat and the ball:
Ravi Bopara's comeback into the English side was a bit fortunate, given that he was not in the original squad, nor was he in the squad when Kevin Pietersen was injured. It was only the injury to Ian Bell that meant that the England Lions batsman had a chance, and he grabbed it with both hands.
While batting, Bopara's 16-ball 40 ensured that the score got to 347 when it looked like the English side were about to fold at 300 at one stage. Then again, with the ball in his hand, Bopara ran through the Bangladeshi middle and lower-order like a hot knife through butter to capture a four-wicket haul.
On any other day, he would have been easily the man of the match, but those innings from Strauss meant otherwise.
Insipid response:
Call it the pressure of chasing at almost seven runs per over from the very start, but it was evident that chasing 348 was never going to be easy. It was made further difficult by the early loss of both of their better players in the side, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahmudullah-c1877 crawled to his 42, the game was well and truly beyond reach.
And yes, Mohammad Ashraful of the Bangladesh side failed yet again!
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