REPORT: Root Secures Perfect Start for England
2 June 2017
Joe Root struck a magnificent century as England made light work of chasing 306 to get off to a winning start in the Champions Trophy.
He was batting on one leg for a large portion of his innings but the class of Joe Root still shone through.
England's No. 3 struck a superb century - his tenth in ODIs - as the host nation made light work of their victory target of 306 to beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in the opening match of the Champions Trophy at the Kia Oval.
Backed up by a fluent 95 from Alex Hales and an unbeaten 71 off just 65 balls from skipper Eoin Morgan, England won with 16 balls to spare.
After winning the toss and asking Bangladesh to bat, a circumspect start yielded just 20 runs off the first seven overs, Chris Woakes only able to bowl two of them before he went off for treatment on what was later confirmed as a side strain which would see him miss the rest of the tournament.
Moeen Ali dropped a regulation catch when Soumya Sarkar flicked uppishly to square leg off Jake Ball and once the Powerplay had finished with Bangladesh 36/0, the assault began, Tamim slapping Jake Ball for six back over his head.
But Sarkar departed in Ben Stokes’ first over, slapping an upper cut straight to Jonny Bairstow on the cover boundary. Tamim, though, continued to up the pace, driving, cutting and pulling with aplomb. Imrul Kayes scored at almost a run a ball before he was brilliantly caught by Mark Wood who threw himself forward at mid on to grab a mistimed drive inches from the turf off Liam Plunkett. Bangladesh 95/2.
Tamim’s 45th ODI half century came up in 71 balls courtesy of a slash for four behind point and he moved through the gears, pouncing on anything short and also glancing one late cut for four very fine down the ground.
He and Stokes exchanged pleasantries as the Durham man came back into the attack, which prompted a talking to from the umpires and a rise in the noise levels around the ground. That was replicated as Mushfiqur went to 50 and then again as Tamim completed his ninth ODI century, and second against England.
Hales brought up his 14th ODI half century by coming down the track and smearing Rubel Hossain for four and he then took 10 off the returning Shakib Al Hasan with a sweep for four and a big straight six. Root followed Hales to fifty soon after, his 22nd in ODIs.
Hales continued to pounce on anything loose, and moved onto 95 with a huge six off Sabbir Rahman but as he tried to repeat the feat to get to three figures, he picked out substitute Sunzamul Islam in the deep. The partnership had been worth 159.
Eoin Morgan came in to join Root, who by that stage was limping after twisting his ankle playing a hook shot. That didn't dampen his enthusiasm between the wickets though, as he and Morgan kept on top of the run rate and hammered anything off line.
The captain had a reprieve when replays showed the ball hadn't carried to Tamim at mid on as Morgan failed to connect properly with a Mashrafe Mortaza delivery. Root went to his tenth ODI ton off 115 balls and Morgan reached 50 soon after, at which point both opened their shoulders and gobbled up the 75 required off the final 10 overs to hand England the ideal start.
They completed the job with 16 balls to spare, having put on 143, to seal a comprehensive victory. Next up, New Zealand on Tuesday in Cardiff.
You can watch Joe Root and Eoin Morgan in action for England at The Brightside Ground, Bristol when we face the West Indies on Sunday September 24. To purchase tickets, please click here.
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