Moeen Ali and Reece Topley turned out to be the top performers as defending champions England beat Bangladesh by four wickets as per DLS method at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati in a rain-interrupted encounter. In the 37-over-per-side affair, Bangladesh batters failed to make a mark in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan as the target of 197 was chased down by Jos Buttler's England with four wickets in hand and 77 balls to spare.
Earlier, Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bat first. Reece Topley started off with a no ball and paid the price of it. Tanzid Hasan got off the mark with a six off short ball. In his next over, Topley compensated for the error and got the wicket of Litton Das. Stand-in skipper Shanto became his second victim with the new ball. Tanzid kept the run rate up. Mehidy Hasan Miraz got a reprieve early in the innings. Tanzid missed his half-century as he chopped it on off a delivery from Mark Wood. He scored 45 runs from 44 balls including seven fours and a six.
Mushfiqur Rahim failed to pick Adil Rashid's wrong one and departed for a single-digit score. Miraz got to his half-century from 62 balls. Mahmudullah looked to score quickly but became Rashid's second victim in an attempt to hit big. Rain interrupted play after the 30th over. After a long delay, it was reduced to 37 overs per side. Towhid Hridoy could not do much after the break and got dismissed by Sam Curran. In the 34th over, David Willey struck twice. Miraz departed after an 89-ball 74 featuring 10 fours. Nasum Ahmed got bowled off the first ball he faced. Topley returned to dismiss Mahedi Hasan. Bangladesh managed to post 188/9 from 37 overs.
The revised DLS target for England was 197. Mustafizur Rahman struck early with the wicket of Dawid Malan in the first over. Jonny Bairstow hit three consecutive fours in the next over. Bairstow continued the onslaught and took England's score past 50. Mustafizur dismissed him in the fifth over. He scored 34 runs from 21 balls including six fours and a six. Harry Brook hit a few boundaries but got outsmarted by Hasan Mahmud in the eighth over. After facing a few dot deliveries, Buttler made a statement as he smashed Shoriful Islam for two fours and a six in the ninth over. Shoriful got his revenge in the next over. Buttler departed for a 15-ball 30.
Liam Livingstone got a reprieve early on but was dismissed for a single-digit score to Taskin Ahmed. Ali and Joe Root brought calm in the middle. In the 19th over, Ali hit Tanzim Hasan Sakib for two fours and a six. The southpaw gave Nasum similar treatment with back-to-back sixes. He got to his half-century from 37 balls. In Nasum's next over, he was in a hurry to finish off the game. But Moeen got caught in the deep. He scored 56 runs from 39 balls including two fours and six sixes. Root got England over the line in the 25th over. He remained unbeaten for 26 runs off 40 deliveries.
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