ICC World Cup
England v Bangladesh Cricket World Cup preview: England must improve to get off the mark
England will have another attempt at getting their 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup campaign off the ground after a chastening defeat to New Zealand when they face Bangladesh on Tuesday.
We preview the action below.
England v Bangladesh – Tuesday 06:00
England’s opening day loss to New Zealand was possibly the worst start they could have made to their World Cup campaign for a number of reasons.
The manner of the defeat, the fact they lost to a side they’d thumped 3-1 just a month earlier, the fact their opposition had a makeshift bowling attack and the confusion of playing in an almost empty stadium were all factors in what amounted to a hugely anticlimactic day for Jos Buttler’s men.
It’s difficult to pinpoint a specific area of where it went wrong for England on Thursday, but the scattergun approach by their top and middle order batsmen – making quickfire starts then gifting New Zealand wickets on a fairly easy batting pitch – seemed to lack the sophistication and temperament that separates the ODI format from the T20 game.
Despite that, a score of 282 – whilst certainly under-par – should have at least been competitive, so to lose by 9 wickets with over 13 overs remaining was also a reflection of some pretty average England bowling. A frontline attack of Sam Curran and Chris Woakes is undoubtedly skilled but hardly ignites a degree of fear for opening batsmen, and the Kiwis were able to blast their way to victory without affording more than a couple of noticeable chances.
At the time of writing, the defending champions find themselves bottom of the table with a wounded net run rate of -2.149, which could prove vital considering the congested nature of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Conversely, Bangladesh picked up a solid victory against Afghanistan on Saturday, bowling out their opponents for a poultry 156 and chasing it down with six wickets and more than 15 overs to spare. Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan starred with the ball, picking up three wickets each, with fifties from Mehidy and Najmul Shonto steering their side home.
Such is the extent of England’s loss that Bangladesh can’t be discounted completely at 7/2, though England’s odds of 1/5 suggest that this should be the match in which Jos Buttler’s men finally get on the board.
Joe Root played an anchoring innings in Thursday’s defeat until he was bowled by Glenn Phillips attempting a reverse sweep, and is 3/1 to score the most runs for England, alongside opener Jonny Bairstow. Also watch out for the returning Ben Stokes (9/2) and Jos Buttler (5/1), who seems to be relishing that number five position in the team.
Unsurprisingly, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan tops both the batting and bowling markets for Bangladesh, trading at 7/2 to be the top run scorer and 11/4 to amass the most wickets, but look out for the talented Mustafizur Rahman (11/4), who has IPL experience bowling for the Rajasthan Royals and loves deceiving aggressive batsmen with his off-cutters and slower deliveries.
