The Analyst says Bangladesh lost the first ODI rather than the tourists winning it, but the victory still showed how far they've come...
It was Bangladesh who lost the first one-dayer rather than England who won it.
The home side dropped three fairly straightforward catches – two off England’s centurion Ben Stokes – and then, despite the advantages of batting when the pitch was enhanced by dew, gifted their wickets in an appalling display of haplessness with only 25 runs to win.
It was a collapse that could easily become episode one in a new box-set called Pack of Cards.
This was an England victory achieved without Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales and Joe Root, of course, which shows how far they have come in one-day cricket in the last 18 months since the World Cup.
They do not buckle under pressure like they used to and despite being 60-3 still managed to top 300, a slightly over-par score for the slow, low-bouncing conditions.
Despite Jake Ball’s stunning five wickets and Ben Duckett’s excellent debut, Stokes was the hero with his hundred and his constant galvanizing of the team in the field – especially at the end – and this match was a pivotal moment for him in one-day cricket.
For too long, by his own admission, he has been unable to find the right tempo to bat in one-day games, losing patience too quickly and trying to belt the ball before he was in.
Following some advice from Trevor Bayliss about how he practices, he found a better method in the one-day matches against Pakistan late last summer, culminating in a career-best 75 at Cardiff.
As with that innings, it was noticeable yesterday how he took his time – scoring 4 off his first 12 balls – but found that by playing his natural game rather than trying too hard he could soon catch up to a run-a-ball strike rate.
He is far too good a player to have had to wait 45 matches for his maiden one-day hundred. It is bound to be the first of many.
Bangladesh – favourites to win the first match – are now {ODDS:10880912:7/4} to win the second.
England have found their game immediately on this surface – piloted by the mercurial Jos Buttler, who produced another gem of an innings.
Man for man, England are the better side – although some of their bowling does look vulnerable, especially David Willey.
Bangladesh are still dangerous and a proper team, but I don’t see the control and athleticism in the field to protect a score under 300, or the real depth and quality in their batting needed to sustain a big 50-over run chase.
In fact, if they bat second, get ready for episode two.
