Two games, two different winners, two players fined, and a final that’s too close to call. I’ve really enjoyed the ODI series in Bangladesh thus far. It’s a good contest between two competitive teams and I have absolutely no idea who will win the decider.
The first game was hugely encouraging from England’s point of view. Obviously it wasn’t good to find ourselves 63-3 but the recovery was something I didn’t expect. In days gone by, the opposition’s spinners would have created a stranglehold and gradually suffocated our innings. This time, however, the two not so gentle Bens (Stokes and Duckett) refused to get bogged down.
Stokes in particular really attacked the slow bowlers and played an absolute blinder. This approach should be our blueprint for the whole winter: play positively with intelligent shot selection. Duckett was also hugely impressive on debut and played the situation perfectly.
England eventually reached a very competitive 309 thanks to some typical Buttler pyrotechnics. No wonder the Bangladeshis are sick of the sight of him. More about that later.
Unfortunately however, England’s total didn’t look nearly enough when the hosts cruised to 271-4. Shakib and Kayes played brilliantly and really showed how much Bangladesh have improved in recent times … until the rest of the batsmen decided to do a superb impression of England under Peter Moores.
I’m not sure whether Bangladesh’s lamentable collapse should be attributed to good bowling or daft batting (it’s probably a combination of both), but the hosts’ loss of six wickets for just seventeen runs is the new official gold standard in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Once Shakib was dismissed they simply panicked and fell in a heap. It was the kind of capitulation Aston Villa would be proud of.
The second game was a completely different affair. Bangladesh batted first and made what looked to be a serviceable (at best) 238. Jake Ball bowled beautifully (again) and Chris Woakes also found his rhythm. Rashid and Moeen Ali also performed pretty well.
I was pretty optimistic that England would chase the runs fairly comfortably. I naively thought the main threat would be the spinners. How wrong I was. We played Shakib pretty well but the Bangladeshi seamers blew us away instead. Fair play to them.
It’s amazing how much Bangladesh’s bowling attack has improved. If you look at the statistics, their attack is better than ours in all areas. Mortaza has become an inspirational figure and boasts a better ODI record than any of our seamers. Taskin also looks a really good prospect and his international career has started brilliantly.
Meanwhile, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that Shakib is a much better bowler than either Rashid or Moeen. Although Adil picks up useful wickets his career ODI record still looks very average: 47 wickets at a modest average of 37 with an economy rate of 5.6 and a strike rate of 39.6. Shakib has a far better average (28), a far better economy rate (4.3) and a slightly better strike rate (38.5) too. The conditions in Bangladesh might have something to do with this but it’s still food for thought.
Because they have all the momentum, and I do think England are missing Hales and Root, I think Bangladesh are slight favourites for the third and final ODI. England are certainly capable of turning things around though. Who’s your money on?
In some ways, this decider will be an acid test of England’s progress in ODI cricket. Was Sunday’s game an aberration or are we still second best in 50-over cricket in the subcontinent? I guess England will have a few legitimate excuses if we lose – it’s hard to compete when you’ve lost half your first-choice top six – but another dismal collapse won’t cut the mustard. Personally, I just hope it’s a close and entertaining game.
In other news, Mortaza and Sabbir Rahman were fined 20% of their match fees for their ‘provocative’ celebrations when Jos Buttler was dismissed at the weekend. The match referee also reprimanded Jos for retaliating and arguing with the Bangladeshis. It was all a bit unsightly really.
Two things spring to mind in all this. Firstly, Bangladesh only decided to review the Buttler LBW after the dressing room told them it was out. Does this seem fair to you? I know this happens quite regularly, so I’m not accusing the Bangladeshis of any wrongdoing, but instant replays make it possible for the host broadcaster to influence matches.
Secondly, does anyone think that Jos’ reaction betrayed how much pressure the England players are under? It certainly seems out of character for such a mild mannered individual to get so hot under his pyjama collar. It can’t be easy to tour a country under permanent armed guard. Perhaps the ring of steel, and the unusual circumstances of this tour, are finally getting to our players.
I wonder what Eoin Morgan makes of it all? And more importantly, I wonder how much England are missing his leadership (if at all). Of course, it’s impossible to tell from where we’re sitting. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the England dressing room tomorrow.
James Morgan
I think the odds are slightly in England’s favour, but it’s fine margins.
Both sides are capable of losing three or four wickets quickly/cheaply, so I wouldn’t stake much on either outcome.
“Stokes in particular really attacked the slow bowlers and played an absolute blinder. This approach should be our blueprint for the whole winter”.
Bangladesh made the mistake of serving up a good batting pitch for the first game. England are set up to play in these sorts of conditions. The cracked and worn pitch for the second game is where England struggle. It was a proper batsman (Mahmudullah) who made the bulk of their runs topped up by a bit of late order biffing. England don’t have a team that are going to win many low-scoring ODIs on bowler-friendly pitches. We shouldn’t be surprised that it was the Bangladesh seamers who did the damage – that was exactly how they won that WC match in 2015.
Judging by what India served up for SA and now for NZ, I don’t think we are going to see too many roads in India.
To be fair, I’ve seen England struggle against spin on many a decent batting pitch. I still think Stokes played very well in the circumstances. Agree that India won’t prepare too many roads.
Bangladesh are a poor team with one or two decent players so it would be bizarre to see England as other than favourites for the decider. However, their chances are not helped by having a captain and vice captain unsuited to the roles. Buttler’s reaction to the dismissal and Stokes behaviour after the game were not the leadership needed. Whilst I am no fan of either player in red ball, they are obvious picks in short form cricket – but just because they are guaranteed picks does not make them the automatic or obvious choices to lead the team. Neither has led teams before at senior level and Stokes has a long record of dumb behaviour.
I was amazed at the post game explanation that Buttler was offended by the celebration. I assumed that, at very minimum, someone had questioned his parentage. Whilst the celebration was a bit OTT I saw nothing to justify the reaction. The explanation that both the Bangladeshi’s and Buttler approached each other aggressively seemed in conflict with the camera (I watched live and on recording). I saw no such move by the Bangladesh players until Buttler turned and approached them.
The only question I have is who should be captain? I am a great Woakes fan (and he led the only happy and successful recent England tour – the Lions to Sri Lanka) – but since I think he should concentrate on red ball I do not see him as the answer.
I think you’re being slightly harsh on Bangladesh Andy. Before this series they’d only lost 3 of their last 20 ODIs on home soil. During that time they’ve beaten Pakistan 3-0 and South Africa 2-1. They also beat New Zealand 3-0 a couple of years ago. They’re no mugs imho.
In terms of leadership, would you like to see Morgan come straight back into the side? He’s certainly one who could handle the pressure. The question is, do we still think he merits his place as a batsman?
I’m struggling with Morgan’s place in the side. It is his team and he seems to have done a fine job with them. Buttler has been doing excellent work in the field but perhaps an older and more phlegmatic captain might be better at defusing the pressure generally.
Whether or not that is important enough to be carrying his batting, I’m not sure. He is effectively keeping Bairstow out, but given the schedule a move to build two fairly separate teams seems like a good idea. We need the best players who we have got for the Champions Trophy but after that, by and large, I’d like to see the test players stood down from ODI.
Perhaps I am a bit harsh on Bangladesh James but I do think they have outperformed their talent with those results. On the matter of Morgan, I would bring him straight back as captain. I have doubts about him as a player but I do think the importance of a solid captain is underrated and, regrettably, I do not see an alternative except Woakes – who I would prefer as a future test captain (as opposed to the lightweight personality of the brilliant Root) rather than ODI player.
But I know my views on the divide between test and other forms of cricket are not mainstream….
I think you are being unduly harsh on Jos. It was a powder keg atmosphere, he said the celebration was up in his face and only those who were there know what was said. The umpires saw and presumably heard it all and it was the Bangladeshies who were fined. Of course in an ideal world Buttler should have walked away but we can’t know the provocation, nor what the camera angles didn’t show. He is young and doing a difficult job in a very tense and febrile situation.
He has captained extremely well on the field and should be congratulated for his efforts.
What did you make of the post match shenanigans James? I’m talking about the Stokes / Bairstow vs Tamim fiasco… #handshakegate
I doubt the cameras picked up everything so I doubt we know the full context. Having said that, I’m not a fan of players behaving like that. I like to see aggression on the field but handshakes and cordial relations when the game has finished. I was surprised to see Tamim involved as he’s mates with Moeen.
Sad to see James Taylor in the Sky studio, not playing. That last game would have been tailor made for him (no pun intended) A good player of spin, quick on his feet. Had he been playing I think England could have won that.
As I said elsewhere this Bangladesh side remind me of a young Sri Lankan team when they started to become a force in world cricket. Aggressive in your face cricket, get under your opponents skin just to be taken seriously.
Great points! Totally agree
Duckett’s ugly, leaden footed waft against Shakib was a really, really horrible bit of cricket.
But an inevitable (and acceptable) price for having short form cricket. What is not acceptable is selectors ignoring such matters and assuming a successful ODI or T20 player will make a test bat.
UPDATE: The weather forecast for tomorrow is very poor. The Bangladesh board asked the ECB whether they could schedule a reserve day in case the decider is wiped out. The ECB said ‘no’. Apparently there isn’t enough room in the schedule because the test warm-ups start on Friday and the ODI specialists are flying home on Thursday.
I was wondering where the bad weather was. No tour of Bangladesh usually escapes without a few draws.
I’m struggling with the batting order and in particular Vince. In the absence of Hales (who’s cemented his place in the ODI team) why not experiment with either Ducket or Billings at the top?
I thought ODIs were our “priority” yet we can’t add a reserve day?
If it’s down to money, perhaps they could have saved on the 40+ ECB people that are out there (according to a Guardian report). That doesn’t include Harrison and Strauss who’ve left apparently – perhaps to go to India to capitulate to their demands on the Champions Trophy. I’m looking forward to Harrison waving a piece of paper at the airport when he returns and promising “cricket in our time”!
“Draws” was meant to be downpours :-)
A fine series performance. Arguably, England’s best since the post 2015 World Cup. For me it beats the NZ home series a few months after that, not only because Banglas haven’t lost at home for a long time but that England have found several extra players who can perform such as Duckett, Billings and Ball going forward.
Most telling stat for me was the number of wickets in the series…
Rashid 10; Ball 7; Woakes and Stokes 2; Ali 1.
Our batting has huge depth – especially considering the first choice players we were missing – but the bowling seems thin. Key tour for Rashid, and I hope England can handle him in a way that builds his confidence. It seems to me that he has great potential, but over anxiety is preventing him being as consistent as the best spinners need to be.