‘We stuck to our guns’
England captain Jos Buttler praised his side's attacking style of play as the defending World Cup champions stormed back into the tournament by handing Bangladesh a 137-run defeat in their second match in Dharamshala on Tuesday.
After a nine-wicket loss in their opening fixture, England appeared to have carried no jitters in the following match as they delivered an all-round display to outclass Shakib Al Hasan's side, who won their first match against Afghanistan comprehensively on Saturday.
Buttler's England piled on the runs, posting a mammoth 364 for nine after being sent into bat first and then came back with the ball to bundle out Bangladesh for 227.
In-form batter Dawid Malan produced a masterful 107-ball 140, his best ODI score, as he put together a 151-run stand with Joe Root (82), and left-arm pacer Reece Topley, who was roped into the side in place of Moeen Ali, ran through Bangladesh's top-order, returning with figures of four for 43 to outclass the Tigers.
"We stuck to our guns, played in the fashion we want to play and still feel like there's always areas we can improve as well," Buttler said in the post-match interview.
Even though England posted a total in excess of 350, Buttler felt that his side left runs on the pitch. When he was dismissed in the 40th over, the scorecard read 298 for the loss of three. This means that the defending champions managed to score 66 runs in the last 10 overs, losing six wickets in the process.
"At the back end of the innings we would have liked to maybe have got a few more... but the opening partnership from (Jonny) Bairstow and Malan was brilliant and then Malan and (Joe) Root, fantastic," he added.
England take on Afghanistan next on October 15 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, and Bangladesh travel to Chennai for their encounter against New Zealand at the Chepauk on October 13.
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