BAN vs ENG 6th Match, WC Warm-Up 2023

That’s all from the warm-up game between England and Bangladesh. A couple of days off for the defending champions, before they face New Zealand in the curtain raiser of the Cricket World Cup 2023. 

Time to wrap up this coverage, thank you for staying with us throughout the match. It's Deepak Prakash signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Saptak Sanyal and scorer/analyst Yogesh Kumar. CHEERS!

Earlier, after deciding to bat first, Bangladesh lost Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto for 5 and 2 runs, respectively, in the first powerplay.  Tanzid Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz started building the partnership, and the duo added a 50+ run partnership for the third wicket. However, Mark Wood clean-bowled Tanzid for 45 runs to break the partnership. 

Mehidy Hasan Miraz continued his merry ways and completed his half-century, but Bangladesh lost Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, and Towhid Hridoy cheaply in the middle overs. The rain appeared after the 30 overs of the innings, and the play was interrupted for around 3 hours, resulting in the match being reduced to 37-over per side after the resumption. After the rain break, Bangladesh lost wickets in quick succession and were reduced to 189/9 at the end of 37 overs. Buttler used 9 bowlers, giving them a chance to get some overs under their belt ahead of the World Cup.  

Reece Topley shone with the ball, taking three wickets in 5 overs. Willey and Adil Rashid chipped in with a couple of wickets, while Sam Curran and Mark Wood contributed one wicket. 

The DLS target was adjusted to 197 runs for England, and in pursuit of 197 runs, England lost Dawid Malan for a mere 4 runs. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root started building the partnership, with Bairstow scoring at a brisk pace and providing a solid start to the Three Lions. However, Mustafizur trapped Bairstow for 34 runs and halted the progress. Harry Brook came out all guns blazing and smashed four boundaries in a short interval of time but failed to carry the momentum, departing for 17 runs off 15 balls. 

Jos Buttler joined Root in the middle, and the former didn’t waste any time in unleashing his inner fury, scoring at a rapid pace, but alas, his cameo came to an end at 30 runs off 15 balls. He was soon followed by Liam Livingstone, who failed to make an impact with the bat, departing for a mere 7 runs and leaving his side in a spot of bother. 

Root paired up with Moeen Ali, and the duo kept scoring at a decent pace for the few overs. Root, who struggled to settle in the middle in recent months, took his time today and played sensibly. On the other hand, Moeen switched gears and played his natural game, scoring at a rapid pace and getting to his fifty in just 37 balls. The duo almost finished the game, but Moeen got out for 56 runs off 39 balls, looking to finish the game with a biggie, but failed to time that well and holed out in the deep. Root remained unbeaten on 26 runs off 40 balls, with England winning the game by 4 wickets with 77 balls to spare. 

Mustafizur Rahman bagged a couple of wickets for Bangladesh, while Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, and Nasum Ahmed contributed one wicket.