Tigers surrender meekly to England

Bangladesh's six-run defeat against Scotland in the opening game of the qualifying stage came as a shock while the defeat to Sri Lanka in first the Super 12 game was perhaps a result of lack of execution and poor fielding.

But the defeat against England in their second Super 12 game yesterday revealed the real picture of Bangladesh cricket, with the Tigers' limitation in skill and preparation in the shortest format of the game brutally exposed by a top-quality opponent.

The stark difference between the top-ranked side and a rather weak and demoralised one was evident as England thrashed Bangladesh by eight wickets at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

The enthusiasm and excitement among the huge number of Bangladeshi fans, who had travelled from various parts of the UAE ignoring the hot and humid weather in hope of a better show from the Tigers, had to return again empty-handed.

Bangladesh never looked like putting up a fight since skipper Mahmudullah Riyad elected to bat first and all that they managed in the end was 124 for nine in 20 overs. The strong English batting line-up had no problem whatsoever in chasing down the target as it seemed they were practising for their next big game against Australia in a couple of days.

Opener Jason Roy smacked the Bangladesh bowlers all over the park and top-scored with 61 off 38 balls while Dawid Malan remained unbeaten on 28 as England reached the target with eight wickets in hand and 35 balls to spare.

Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed picked up the wicket of Roy before Shoriful Islam got rid of Jos Buttler for a run-a ball 18 as Bangladesh couldn't put up a fight against a high-flying English side.

It was yet another sorry batting display from the Tigers earlier, with Liton Das failing to utilise another opportunity scoring just nine runs and in-form Naim Sheikh departing for five.

Bangladesh were dealt a farther blow when Shakib Al Hasan was dismissed by Chris Woakes, thanks to a magnificent catch by Adil Rashid at short fine-leg as the Tigers managed to score 27 for three in the Powerplay.

Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim's 37 runs in the fourth-wicket stand could only avert the humiliation of being bundled out for a small total as there was no significant performance with the bat from the Tigers.

Mushfiqur was trapped leg-before while trying a reverse-sweep off the bowling of part-time leg-spinner Liam Livingstone after a team-high of 29.

Mahmudullah, after trying too hard with the bat, saw his confused calling result in the run-out of Afif Hossain at a crucial time.

Interestingly Nasum struck the first six of the innings and made it a couple against Rashid in the 19th over, eventually remaining unbeaten on 19 off nine balls.   If it continues in the same manner, things may not change much for Bangladesh in the next three Super 12 matches as Russell Domingo and his charges need serious work to change their fortune in the mega event.