Match number 7 was decided to be played at HPCA aka Dharamshala Cricket Stadium (Himachal Pradesh). England who lost their first game were about to face Bangladesh on this occasion. Plenty of discussions were made during the press conference regarding the status of Ben Stokes. Ben Stokes, who played a crucial role in the previous World Cup did not play the second game either. Bangladesh won the crucial toss and asked the defending champions to bat first.
It was not an easy track to bat, but the English batsman had their plans. After a bizarre failure in the previous game, both Jonny Bairstow and David Malan showed positive intent and helped England get off to a great start. The pair made a partnership of 115 runs before Shakib-Al-Hasan cleaned up Jonny Bairstow on 52 runs in just 59 balls with the help of 8 boundaries. Joe Root then joined David Malan, and the pair quickly began the work. Bangladeshi bowlers were clueless in front of Malan and Root as both the batters literally thrashed them across the park.
In between this absolute carnage, David Malan completed his century, and he didn’t stop. He continued to bat in his own style until Mehidy Hassan cleaned him up. Malan went back to the pavilion after scoring a blistering 140 runs in just 107 balls with the help of 16 boundaries and 5 sixes. Jos Butler joined Root in the middle, but he couldn’t do much as Shoriful Islam cleaned him up with an absolute Jaffa on just 20 runs. Mushfiqur Rahim then took a good catch on Shoriful Islam’s delivery to send Joe Root back to the pavilion on 82 runs with the help of 68 balls consisting of 8 fours and a maximum. This significant effort by England’s top order helped them to score 364 runs in 50 overs. Mehidy Hasan and Shoriful Islam took 4 and 3 wickets respectively.
The target was as big as India’s Mount Everest peak. But just like any other fan, Bangladeshi supporters and fans were hoping for a miracle. But miracles can’t win you matches like this. Liton Das and Tanzid Hasan began the proceedings for Bangladesh. Reece Topley came to bowl the second over and he removed Tanzid Hasan on the fourth ball of the over for just 1 run. On the very next delivery, Topley sent Najmul Hossain Shanto back to the pavilion on a Golden Duck. Skipper Shakib-Al-Hasan then joined Liton Das who was looking in a good touch, but Reece Topley was all over the Bangladeshi batsmen as he then cleaned up Shakib-Al-Hasan with a peach of a delivery.
Liton Das was standing tall and steady on the other hand, but no other batsman was able to contribute with him. Mehidy Hasan who came to bat at number 5 got caught behind as Chris Woakes joined the party. At this stage, Bangladesh were at 49/4 in 8.3 overs. Mushfiqur Rahim then came out to bat with Liton Das and the duo then somehow able to score some runs. Some runs were not enough because the target was huge, and the wickets were less. Chris Woakes then sent Liton Das back for a well-played 75 runs in just 66 balls with the help of 7 fours and 2 sixes. Mushfiqur Rahim, the last hope of Bangladesh, got out on Topley’s delivery.
Bangladesh got bowled out on 227 runs and England won the game by a huge margin of 137 runs. Reece Topley bagged 4 wickets whereas Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, Mark Wood and Liam Livingston got 2, 1, 1, 1, 1 wickets, respectively.
Several Records were made during this 7th game of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
- Dawid Malan became the fastest batter in the history of the game to smash 6 ODI hundreds. – 23 Innings.
- England recorded their 4th biggest ODI World Cup win by runs against Bangladesh. – 137 Runs.
- Joe Root became England’s highest run-scorer in ODI World Cup history. – 917 Runs in 18 Innings.
Also Recommended: England vs Bangladesh full scorecard
