bdnews24.com : A steady century by Shakib Al Hasan has failed to ensure a moderate defeat for Bangladesh after a high-pressure chase of England’s highest World cup total.
The Tigers were bowled out for 280, still 106 runs behind the hosts, with seven balls remaining at Cardiff on Saturday.
Jonny Bairstow caught last batsman Mustafizur Rahman behind the stumps as Jofra Archer claimed his third wicket of the match in the 49th over.
Shakib reached his seventh One-Day International century off 95 balls with nine fours and one six after hitting fifties in the previous two World Cup matches.
He was in when the Tigers lost opener Soumya Sarkar in the to a devastating 143 kph delivery by Jofra Archer to the stumps in the fourth over.
Shakib partnered with Mushfiqur Rahim (44) after Mark Wood had Tamim Iqbal (19) caught by Captain Eoin Morgan at cover in the 12th over as the opener tried to pull but ended up striking high on the bat.
The 106-run stand broke triggering a free fall in Bangladesh’s batting line-up when Jason Roy took a diving catch at backward point off a Liam Plunkett delivery after an outside edge by Mushfiqur.
Mohammad Mithun (0), who scored 26 against New Zealand and 21 against South Africa, was the next to go in the next over.
He went for a wild shot off an Adil Rashid delivery as the required run rate crossed 11, but edged the ball outside to the gloves of Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps.
Bangladesh still needed 168 runs for the win when Shakib fell to a Ben Stokes yorker in the 40th over finally taking his total to 121.
The Tigers looked set for a below 100-run defeat as Mahmudullah (28) built up a partnership with Mosaddek Hossain (26), but the latter was out in a Stokes delivery when Bangladesh were 33 runs behind the mark.
Stokes then claimed Mohammad Saifuddin’s wicket and Archer took Mehidy Hasan Miraz out.
England amassed the huge total of 386 for six with a 121-ball 153 by Roy aiming to break their two-game losing streak against Bangladesh in the previous World Cups.
Roy’s century opening stand with Bairstow took the Three Lions past the 100-run mark inside 15 overs on the heels of a blistering start with only 15 runs in the first five overs but 86 in the next 10.
Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza provided an unlikely breakthrough for the Tigers, aided by a sharp, low catch at cover by Miraz to dismiss Bairstow (51 off 50 balls) in the 20th over.
Joe Root (21 off 29) was the second to fall after 12 more overs, bowled out by Saifuddin when England already crossed the 200-run mark.
Centurion Roy then hit three back-to-back sixes off Miraz in the 35th over taking his side to 235. He hit a total of 14 fours and five sixes.
Miraz avenged immediately as Roy was caught by Mashrafe at extra cover after the batsman tried to go straight off a bit wider one.
Jos Buttler scored a quickfire 64 off 44 with four sixes and two boundaries in a 95-run partnership with Captain Eoin Morgan (35 off 33) afterwards.
The Tigers took the last three wickets in the last five overs as England batsmen tried to hit big shots to extend the total by the end but got caught.
Liam Plunkett provided a nine-ball cameo of 27 while Chris Woakes scored 18 off eight in an unbeaten 45-run partnership.
Earlier, Mashrafe won the toss and opted to bowl first as his side looked to bounce back from a disappointing two-wicket loss against New Zealand at The Oval.
The skipper hoped that his bowlers could draw some purchase off the wicket in the first hour of play, with the covers having remained on the pitch for the last two days.
Bangladesh made a bright start to the match as Shakib, who opened the bowling with his left-arm spin alongside the medium pace of Mashrafe, restricted England to a quiet start.
But the dangerous duo of Bairstow and Roy soon clicked into gear, scoring boundaries at will against a helpless Bangladeshi attack.
The head-to-head record in ODI fixtures between the two sides has been one-sided with England winning 16 of the 20 previous encounters.
But the picture was completely different in World Cup matches where the Tigers claimed two of their four victories against the Three Lions.
The run started with a thrilling two-wicket win at Chattogram in the 2011 World Cup.
The Tigers followed it up with a historic 15-run triumph against the current World Cup hosts to seal a berth in the knockout stages of the 2015 edition of the showpiece tournament at Adelaide.
England’s previous win at the World Cup against Bangladesh came in 2007 and now they have secured a second one, clinically as hot favourites.
BRIEF SCORES: England 386 for six in 50 overs (Jason Roy 153, Jos Buttler 64, Jonny Bairstow 51; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-67, Mohammad Shaifuddin 2-78) beat Bangladesh 280 all out in 48.5 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 121, Mushfiqur Rahim 44; Ben Stokes 3-23, Jofra Archer 3-29) by 106 runs.
