London: Joe Root made an unbeaten hundred as tournament hosts England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in the opening match of the 2017 Champions Trophy at the Oval on Thursday.
Needing 306, England were untroubled in the chase having been set on their way by opener Alex Hales, who was unlucky to miss his century as well (95, 86b, 11x4, 2x6).
But England captain Eoin Morgan then helped Root (133 not out, 129b, 11x4, 1x6) put on an undefeated 143 for the third wicket to see his side home with 16 balls in hand. Morgan finished not out on 75 (61b, 8x4, 2x6).
Earlier, Tamim Iqbal’s superb hundred helped take Bangladesh to 305/6, the left-hander receiving excellent support from Mushfiqur Rahim (79) in a third-wicket partnership of 166.
It was Bangladesh’s highest stand in a one-day international outside of Asia, surpassing the 141 put on by Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah when the Tigers knocked England out of the 2015 World Cup with a dramatic 15-run win in Adelaide.
Both batsmen, however, fell in successive balls from fast bowler Liam Plunkett to leave Bangladesh 261/4 in the 45th over.
Fast bowler Plunkett led England’s attack with 4/59 from his maximum 10 overs after Chris Woakes went off after bowling just two overs because of a left side strain.
England, who came into this tournament featuring the world’s top eight ODI sides as one of the favourites after making huge strides in white-ball cricket in the last two years, were given plenty to think about after Morgan opted to field despite sunny skies promising good batting conditions.
Tamim’s fellow left-handed opener Soumya Sarkar should have been out for 11 when he turned Jake Ball off his pads only for Moeen Ali to drop a two-handed catch at square leg.
But all-rounder Ben Stokes, who had been struggling for bowling fitness because of a knee injury, made the breakthrough with the last ball of his first over.
Scoreboard
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal c Buttler b Plunkett 128, Soumya Sarkar c sub (Bairstow) b Stokes 28, Imrul Kayes c Wood b Plunkett 19, Mushfiqur Rahim c Hales b Plunkett 79, Shakib Al Hasan c Stokes b Ball 10, Sabbir Rahman c Roy b Plunkett 24, Mahmudullah (not out) 6, Mosaddek Hossain (not out) 2. Extras: (b1, lb1, w7) 9. Total: (for 6 wkts, in 50 overs) 305.
FoW: 1-56, 2-95, 3-261, 4-261, 5-277, 6-300.
Bowling: Woakes 2-1-4-0, Wood 10-1-58-0 (1w), Ball 10-1-82-1, Stokes 7-0-42-1 (1w), Plunkett 10-0-59-4 (2w), Ali 8-1-40-0 (1w), Root 3-0-18-0 (2w).
England: J. Roy c Mustafizur Rahman b Mashrafe Mortaza 1, A. Hales c sub (Sunzamul Islam) b Sabbir Rahman 95, J. Root (not out) 133, E. Morgan (not out) 75. Extras: (lb2, w2) 4. Total: (for 2 wkts, in 47.2 overs) 308.
FoW: 1-6, 2-165.
Bowling: Mortaza 10-0-56-1, Hasan 8-0-62-0, Rahman 9-0-51-0, Sarkar 2-0-13-0, Hossain 7.2-0-47-0, Rubel 10-0-64-0, Rahman 1-0-13-1.
