Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

England v Bangladesh: 5 key talking points. ENG vs BAN: 5 key talking points from their CWC 2019 match.

“Why couldn’t it be umpire Gaffney instead?!”, screamed Windies fans all over the globe as Jason Roy literally highlighted a day of England dominance.

The class of Shakib Al Hasan aside, Bangladesh were never at the races. England, though, bounced back well from their defeat against Pakistan, never looking back after receiving a nice favour from the opposition at the toss.

Below are five key talking points from England’s big 106-run win, their first over Bangladesh in their last three World Cup meetings.

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1. Jason Roy bounces back for record-breaking England

Safe to say Jason Roy didn’t have his best outing against Pakistan. A dropped sitter, after which he looked up at the sun with his sunglasses on the back of his head, wasn’t the best of moments. Worse, it was Mohammad Hafeez on 14, who went on to make a crucial 83. Wasting a review and showing dissent to the umpire was then the icing on the cake.

But, he bounced back well. Sure, the Bangladesh attack wasn’t on song, but Roy contributed to that. He pushed Bangladesh on the defensive, especially after the Shakib experiment didn’t reap rewards in the powerplay. Roy bludgeoned his way to a fine 153; and who knows what it could have been after hitting Mehidy Hasan Miraz for three straight sixes before being dismissed going for the fourth.

In the process, England broke a world-record. They became the first team in ODI history to score seven 300-plus scores in a row. A fine achievement.

2. Bangladesh lost the game before they stepped out onto the field

Bangladesh’s strength is putting a score on the board and squeezing the opposition in defence of it. After all, they won against South Africa and pushed New Zealand all the way, albeit after being sent into bat in both those matches.

This time, Bangladesh won the toss. This time, though, they made their biggest blunder of the tournament so far. Fooled by the presence of grass on the pitch, Bangladesh chose the defensive option to bowl, which spelt trouble as soon as Bairstow and Roy were cruising without even taking a risk.

Their bowling lacks the pace and firepower against powerful sides on flat batting tracks. In a game like this, especially after England fell while chasing Pakistan, Bangladesh needed to back themselves with the bat. They didn’t bat first, and they paid the price.

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3. Jofra Archer is outstanding and the pace battle is well and truly on

It is reminiscent of Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Bond and Brett Lee battling it out in 2003.

Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are all battling it out against each other for fastest ball of the World Cup. Mitchell Starc came into the game with the quickest – a miserly 152km/h against West Indies. Broken by Jofra Archer’s 153km/h in an incredibly fiery opening spell, Mark Wood then came from the clouds to rise to the top with 154km/h.

But, Jofra Archer is the one to keep an eye on. His disappointing day against Pakistan, after an incredible one against South Africa, was a reminder of the game-to-game grind in international cricket. However, he had the Bangladeshi batsmen hopping around in an incredible opening spell. A spell that was the fastest opening spell from any England bowler in overs 1-10 of an ODI since 2006. The highlight? Hitting the top of off stump to dismiss Soumya Sarkar, with the ball then flying for six. Magnificent.

4. Shakib Al Hasan is incredible

This outstanding all-rounder adds another fine moment to his wonderful collection spanning well over a decade.

Shakib Al Hasan, despite not helping his side win the game, played one of the finest innings seen by a Bangladeshi. Jofra Archer sending balls for six off the top of the stumps is enough to make any batsman take notice (and possibly stay seated in the changing room), but Shakib held strong. Mark Wood was sending down thunderbolts, too. He played the short relatively well, coupled with a number of classy strokes en route to his eighth ODI century.

At 32, you feel Shakib has really matured and is primed for an even more brilliant finish to his career. On this evidence, where he currently leads the run-scoring charts with 260 after two half centuries and a century (South Africa, New Zealand and South Africa), he can finish with even more outstanding numbers.

5. Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid?

England made a bit of a controversial call to leave Moeen Ali out of the side for this game.

Bringing back Liam Plunkett, who has taken 127 wickets in 84 ODIs, deserves to be in the side. But, at whose expense?

Adil Rashid, nursing a shoulder complaint, bowled a decent but unspectacular spell. Middle overs wickets are crucial to England’s chances in this World Cup, and Eoin Morgan feels Rashid offers better wicket-taking threat in the middle overs. However, with Moeen taking three in this period against Pakistan, coupled with his batting capabilities, England have some important decisions to make in the upcoming games.

So, as expected, England pick up a crucial win in their World Cup campaign.

For Bangladesh, it was a disappointing outing in what was a big occasion for them. Another opportunity awaits them, though, with struggling Sri Lanka up next.

Also, be sure check out my series of “five key talking points” from every CWC 2019 match! The latest:

Australia v West Indies: Coulter-Nile for PM!

India v South Africa: India start with a win + why I say sorry to SA fans!

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