The 12th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup will roll into action at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Jun 8 2019. England Vs Bangladesh encounter will be more of a tactical game since surprisingly both hosts England and the Asian Tigers, Bangladesh are level in terms of points and fortune.
England began the tournament with the tags of hot home favorites, as their campaign took off with the inaugural match of the tournament against South Africa. A commanding performance saw the home team steamroll past an ailing South Africa to a 104 runs victory. England dominated in every department of the game against the Proteas, be it batting, bowling or fielding.
Their fairy tale start turned in to a nightmare as they were humbled by Pakistan who handed the home team a 14 run defeat at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Twin tons from in form batsmen Joe Root and Jos Butler were not good enough to seal the win as their fielding was below par.
Butler’s 103 came off 76 deliveries which had brilliant stoke plays with 9 fours and 2 sixes. As far the English bowling is concerned, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes rattled 3 wickets each and Mark Wood picked up 2 wickets against Pakistan.
Bangladesh, like England, began their campaign at the 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup with a 21 run win over South Africa at the Kennington Oval in London. Mushfiqur Rahim (78) and Shakib Al Hasan (75) had proved their calibre with the bat. Mustafizur Rahman scalped 3 wickets while Mohammad Saifuddin took 2 with the ball and guide the Asian Tigers to a win.
In their Second fixture against New Zealand, the Bangladesh side seemed to slip and slide in the batting department as Shakib Al Hasan was a lone crusader with the bat. His knock of 64 from 68 balls with 7 fours was the only saving grace in the Bangladesh batting as they put up 244 in 49.2 overs.
New Zealand kept their winning streak intact as they handed Bangladesh a 2 wicket defeat courtesy an 82 runs knock from Ross Taylor and Captain Kane Williamson’s 40.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin and Mosaddek Hossain took 2 wickets each but could not stop the Kiwis as they chased down the target in 47.1 overs.
Head to Head of England v Bangladesh encounter:
The two teams have faced each other in 20 ODI matches till date where England have a clear statistical advantage. The Lions have won on 16 occasions as compared to Bangladesh 4 wins.
Bangladesh has got the better of England twice in the World Cup group stage encounters. The Tigers had won their tie against the English Lions in Chittagong in 2011 and repeated this feat once again in 2015 in Adelaide, their 15-run victory eliminated England at the group stage.
Expectations and Predictions:
While Mashrafe Mortaza continues to guide them as their most successful Captains, his performance with the ball and the bat are still missing in this world cup.
The ground at Cardiff has short straight boundaries and longer fence square of the wicket. This will invite the batsmen to play in the textbook V format but going across the Bangladesh spin is always a temptation many have found hard to resist.
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The ageless war horse Shakib Al Hasan has had a good spell in both the matches against South Africa and New Zealand. His batting has been in good stead while his guile and deception with the ball have been crucial in Bangladesh’s strong performances in both the games.
He will be ably joined by Mehidy Hasan to spearhead the Bangladesh bowling attack that commences with a disciplined spin attack.
England know that taking Bangladesh lightly would be repeating the flaw that hurt them against Pakistan. A focused approach would be the need of the hour as they have found the rhythm in their batting and bowling areas.
While Joe Root and Jos Butler have got tons, Ben Stoke’s all-round man of the match-winning performance against South Africa will also be a huge morale booster. With the ball, the English have a lethal and potent attack in Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes.
It is also possible that Captain Eoin Morgan might opt to add a spin attack in his armour against Bangladesh. It will be interesting to see if it will be a Jofra Archer cyclone at England vs Bangladesh encounter.
Expected Line Ups:
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman.
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(wk), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid