ENG vs. BAN | Reece Topley Dominates Bangladesh Following David Malan's Century
To their credit, Bangladesh rallied with a flurry of wickets in the final 10 overs, when England appeared destined for a score of about 400.
On October 10, after being thrashed by New Zealand in their World Cup opening, England recovered to dismantle the top order of Bangladesh with a blow to Dawid Malan.
Topley took 4-43 and the in-form Malan hit five sixes in his career-best one-day international innings as the reigning champions defeated the opposition by 137 runs after amassing 364-9 in Dharamsala.
The score may have gone much higher, but off-spinner Mahedi Hasan and paceman Shoriful Islam, who combined for seven wickets, bowled England into submission when they were 296-2 in the 40th over.
Bangladesh made a quick start, as Liton Das blasted three straight fours from Chris Woakes' opening over.
However, they were soon reduced to 14-2 when Topley, who had taken Moeen Ali's place in the side, outmuscled Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto with his quickness and movement.
After the paceman bowled skipper Shakib Al Hasan, it became 26-3. Then, the costly Woakes joined in on the action, luring Mehidy Hasan Miraz to give him an edge. Jos Buttler, the captain of England, made the catch behind the stumps.
As Bangladesh attempted to regroup, Liton was unfazed at the other end, hitting his fifty off 38 balls despite the devastation.
However, he was dismissed for 76 in the 21st over after edging a slower ball from Woakes behind to Buttler, capping off a superb performance.
When Mushfiquir Rahim (51) hit him to deep third man and into Adil Rashid's safe hands, Topley celebrated his fourth wicket.
The game lost its significance as the run rate increased, even with some late hitting, and the outcome appeared more and more certain.
Starring Malan
Prior to this, Malan, who has overtaken Jason Roy at the top of the order, scored his fourth century in an ODI in 2023 at the gorgeous Himalayan pitch with a masterful display of timing and power.
In the eighteenth over, England was down 115-1 when Jonny Bairstow, his opening partner, was bowled by Shakib for 52 after reaching a half-century in his 100th ODI.
Following in Bairstow's footsteps, former Test captain Joe Root indicated his intentions with a ramp shot for six.
Before letting loose in a devastating manner and hitting 20 runs off of just four balls during a Mehidy over, Malan, 36, reached a brilliant century in 91 balls.
After defeating Afghanistan in their first game in India, Bangladesh finally got the much-needed breakthrough when Mahedi dismissed Malan.
Ben Stokes was still out with an injury, so Buttler moved up the order and flirted for a little while before hitting out for 20 off 10 balls.
After topping a ball bowled by Shoriful, which was collected by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur, Root holed out for 82 runs, becoming England's all-time greatest scorer at World Cups, surpassing Graham Gooch.
Then England lost momentum as Liam Livingstone flattened the opening ball with an off-stump.
Wickets continued to fall; Mahedi concluded with 4-71 and Shoriful with 3-75, although the total was far higher than Bangladesh's.
In a single round-robin format, the 10 World Cup teams play each other once, with the top four teams moving on to the semi-finals.