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Duckett and Billings show their promise to earn series win
- Updated: October 12, 2016
England 278 for 6 (Duckett 63, Billings 62, Stokes 47*) beat Bangladesh 277 for 6 (Mushfiqur 67*, Sabbir 49, Imrul 46, Tamim 45, Rashid 4-43) Scorecard and ball-by-ball updates
Hold the pose and watch the ball disappear down the ground high into the crowd. Such was the perfect manner in which Chris Woakes settled a wonderful one-day series. Little speaks more highly of England than the fact they turned up in Bangladesh the first place but, having turned up, they fulfilled their aims on the field as they ended Bangladesh’s run of six successive series wins in ODIs on home soil.
Bangladesh have an impressive lists of conquests to their name, but they have still not beaten England in a bilateral series, losing this one 2-1 as they went down in Chittagong by four wickets with seven balls to spare. Their 277 for 6 looked formidable on a slow pitch that turned substantially for Adil Rashid as he took ODI-best figures of 4 for 43. But the pitch quickened slightly as the dew fell, their finger spinners failed to find the same purchase and England met the run chase with imagination and maturity.
When Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales withdrew from the Bangladesh tour because of safety concerns, England made it clear that there would be no retribution, while stressing that nothing could be taken entirely for granted: life moves on was the gist from Andrew Strauss, MD of England cricket.
Life has moved on, not enough to exclude them – Morgan will skipper on the ODI leg in India – but after this victory it will be enough for England to contemplate their deepening batting options with mounting excitement as they prepare to host the Champions Trophy and World Cup in forthcoming years.
Ben Duckett and Sam Billings, two batsmen to benefit from others’ absence, were prominent figures in England’s successful chase. Both lodged half-centuries that represented their best England ODI scores. Duckett’s, his second of the series, again built on a county season that brought him player-of-the-year recognition, while Billings played with zest as he capitalised on Jason Roy’s absence from the top of the order because of injury.
Considering the shenanigans in the second match in Mirpur, after which the match referee doled out two fines and a reprimand, it was …
