The match for Bangladesh bowlers was called the ‘Litmus Test.’ Mostafizur Rahman’s performance against England’s heavyweight batting lineup was something to watch. Despite rain interruptions, Bangladesh set a target of 197 runs, which England surpassed in 24.1 overs. Bangladesh managed to take 5 wickets for 114 runs, with Mayin Ali being their main breakthrough.
Mostafizur Rahman got Bangladesh off to a good start with his bowling, catching David Malan in the slip. However, Jonny Bairstow started aggressively, reaching 50 in just 4 overs. Mostafizur missed his length, and Bairstow went on to score 34 runs off 21 balls. England didn’t slow down.
Harry Brook and Jos Buttler also played their shots. Hasan Mahmud and Shariful Islam managed to slow them down a bit. England’s captain was out in the 11th over, but they had already reached 100. Livingstone stopped at a single digit score as the second English batsman. After a 39-ball 57 innings, Meheedi Ali stopped. However, England needed just 10 runs to win at that point.
Joe Root batted at number three in the innings’ second over. He remained unbeaten till the end, scoring 26 runs off 40 balls. On the other hand, the Bangladeshi batting preparation didn’t go well. In the match against Sri Lanka, only five players got a chance to bat. In the absence of regular captain Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh had to include all 11 players. However, apart from Mehedi Hasan Miraz and opener Tanzid Hasan, no one managed to score runs.
In Shakib’s absence, Najmul Hossain led the team and chose to bat after winning the toss. In the first innings, Bangladesh’s batsmen struggled, and only eight players got a chance to bat. After the first match was washed out due to rain, they wanted to give everyone a chance this time.
In just 5 overs, Bangladesh lost Liton Das and Najmul Hossain. Both fell to Reece Topley. Liton was not out, but there was no doubt about Nazmul’s caught catch. Like the previous day, Tanjid Hasan batted in the same aggressive manner. He scored 44 runs off 45 balls but stopped in front of Mark Wood. However, Tanjid was not out either. He was caught behind after scoring 74 runs off 89 balls. Miraz came in at number four this time after batting at number seven in the previous match. He took enough time to build his innings, starting with 22 balls for 11 runs. However, he completed his fifty in 62 balls. He was bowled by David Willey after scoring 50 off 62 balls.
However, apart from Tanjid and Miraz, there is no significant contribution from the Bangladeshi batting lineup. Mushfiqur Rahim was bowled by Adil Rashid after scoring 8 runs off 15 balls. Mahmudullah made a good start but was dismissed in a bizarre manner. Rashid took a catch off his own bowling after Mahmudullah hit it back. After 30 overs, the match was interrupted by rain for nearly 3 hours. Although there was a brief resumption of play in between, rain delayed it again. Initially, 37 overs were played, and then the match resumed after a delay. After the break, Tawhid Hridoy was the first to be out, caught by Sam Curran, who reduced his pace. He scored 11 runs off 22 balls. In the 34th over, Miraz and Nasum Ahmed were out in consecutive balls. In the first over after the rain interruption, Mehedi’s third wicket fell to Topley. After the rain interruption, Bangladesh lost 4 wickets in just 7 overs, scoring 35 runs in 7 overs.
