England v Bangladesh: What we learned as hosts win Champions Trophy opener

A Joe Root century helped England to a Champions Trophy record-breaking victory as they beat Bangladesh by eight wickets.

Bolstered by a raucous crowd, the Tigers put on 305 as Tamim Iqbal 128 (142) and Mushfiqur Rahim 79 (72) stitched together a steady innings.

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A late collapse, which saw the departure of both from Liam Plunkett in consecutive balls, meant the visitors had to settle for 305-6.

And although it left England facing a record Champions Trophy chase, Alex Hales 95 (86) and Joe Root 133* (129) put in star performances – ably supported by skipper Eoin Morgan 71* (58) – to see the tournament favourites kick off their campaign with a win.

Here’s what we learned…

Rotation risk: Ball for Rashid?

Jake Ball was selected to start the match instead of Adil Rashid – the second highest wicket-taker in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup.

The change appeared a gamble as England opted for a fourth pacer instead of legspinner Rashid.

And it was pretty bleak going for the Nottinghamshire man, who took 2-43 in the hosts’ third ODI at Lord’s against South Africa, but could only take one wicket this time around – for a fairly rough economy of 8.2 at the end of the 10 overs.

He went for 33 runs more than Liam Plunkett – England’s second most expensive bowler – but the Yorkshire-born pacer took four of six wickets.

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More injury woe for England

The hosts went into the game sweating over the fitness of all-rounder Ben Stokes, who picked up a couple of niggling injuries in the ODI series against South Africa.

Stokes was passed fit to both bat and bowl this morning, but the game was only a matter of overs old when Chris Woakes was forced to receive treatment.

AS IT HAPPENED: England beat Bangladesh in Champions Trophy opener

Woakes only lasted two overs and was latterly revealed to have picked up a side strain, which was not ideal – and things went from bad to worse in England’s innings.

Test skipper Root also damaged his ankle when on 61 playing a hook shot, and was visibly in pain for the remainder of his innings – in which he remained not out.

It’s shaping up to be a harrowing few weeks for England if the injuries keep up at this rate. It truly would be a shame if their trophy challenge was dented due to a string of injuries.

Tamim Iqbal’s swashbuckling century a delight to watch

Bangladesh dug in for the first ten overs, recording just 56 runs off 11-odd overs as Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar laid the foundations for a solid innings.

Soumya – after being dropped on 11 by Moeen Ali’s clanger – soon departed, but that set the scene for wicketkeeper Mushfiqur to join the opener and put on a fine partnership en route to posting an imposing tally.

Iqbal picked up his ninth ODI century, with a variety of fine shots on display from deft glances to leathering shorter balls to the boundary.

It is early days, but Bangladesh showed against the hosts that they are not just here to make up the numbers.

Stokes and Iqbal clash made for a spectacle

Stokes showed all the way back on his test debut in Australia that he had no shortage of fire about him, even if his team-mates were falling like flies around him.

That fire re-emerged mid-way through Iqbal’s innings, with the Durham man less-than-impressed with his Bangladesh counterpart’s glance for four.

He told him so in no uncertain terms – really, we’re talking minutes not seconds – causing Umpires Ravi and Tucker to step in and intervene.

Stokes then returned to field on the boundary – to be greeted in amusing fashion by the plenty of Bangladesh fans in the crowd.

It remains to be seen whether they were under instruction to crack down on sledging, but the exchange was good for the game despite Iqbal ultimately winning out in the batting stakes.

And with clashes against antipodean duo New Zealand and Australia to follow, it’ll be intriguing to see if the umpires keep up their take on heated exchanges – there will undoubtedly be more.

England record Champions Trophy chase

Thanks to the batting efforts of Iqbal and Mushfiqur, England were left with the daunting task of having to chase down a record 306 – with no team in Champions Trophy history chasing 300 or more.

The tally seemed imposing but might have been far worse had both Iqbal and Mushfiqur not been dismissed in successive balls.

The hosts entered the tournament as the favourites to win it, though, and with an extensive batting line-up including the likes of Stokes, Root and Moeen Ali, if anyone could chase it down, England could.

And England put on a composed, comfortable run chase which was never really in doubt on an Oval pitch which was of no assistance to the bowlers, as Root picked up his highest ODI score to date.

Jason Roy’s run drought continues

England opener Roy entered the Champions Trophy fresh off a run drought, having only picked up a total of 13 runs in three ODIs against South Africa.

The experienced white-ball opener was backed by England going into the tournament, despite not having scored more than 20 in an ODI this year.

But he disappointed on a pretty flat deck, having been restricted well early on by clever Bangladesh fielding, and only managed a single run off eight balls.

Presumably it was the frustration at being denied an early boundary on at least one occasion which forced him into a more innovative shot.

The beautiful thing about unorthodox shots is that when they come off, they can cause the fielding sides an absolute nightmare.

Unfortunately for Roy, he picked out short fine leg.