TRENT BRIDGE (England won toss): England (6pts) beat Bangladesh (0) by 168 runs
A QUESTION arose as England worked a toiling attack around Trent Bridge yesterday with a mixture of flat hits and finesse. How did Bangladesh beat Australia last weekend? The answer became clearer when Mohammad Ashraful responded in kind, but for the most part, Bangladesh were burdened by their unexpected success.
Short boundaries and a flat pitch contributed to their growing sense of helplessness as England rushed towards the second-highest total in all 2,252 limited-overs internationals — this without any help from Kevin Pietersen and with a peripheral contribution from Andrew Flintoff, these days their second-biggest hitter.
Last night, Flintoff was also the second-most effective all-rounder as Paul Collingwood followed an aggressive hundred with figures of six for 31 — the first player to achieve that double. The only concern surrounded Michael Vaughan, the captain, who missed the second half of the innings to receive ice treatment on a groin injury.
Andrew Strauss also recorded a hundred and only boredom prevented Marcus Trescothick from inflicting his fourth century upon Bangladesh this summer. Yet the onslaught could not bring complete pleasure for the crowd of about 10,000 because the contest was too one-sided. Indeed, the most affectionate applause was for Ashraful when he fell six runs short of a second successive hundred. He has the frame of a cox but the power of an oarsman and he hit an astonished Stephen Harmison out of the attack on the way to a 21-ball fifty. Some of his shots between mid-wicket and long-on were of the highest class.
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Even in the opening overs it seemed that England might pass their record one-day score of 363 for seven, compiled against Pakistan at the same ground in 1992. The commitment of the opposition on that occasion has been questioned since and the redeeming aspect of Bangladesh’s performance in the field was their effort.
Once he passed fifty, Trescothick batted with growing decadence. No thoughts for his average here as he sought to attack almost every ball. The opening partnership with Strauss had realised 141 when he spooned a high catch to extra cover. Strauss saw less of the strike but scored at a deceptive pace. He has emphasised the importance of Twenty20 in removing inhibition from his one-day batting and has developed a cheeky trademark shot. At least five times he moved outside off stump to flip balls to the fine-leg boundary.
As with Strauss, Collingwood’s hundred was his second in a one-day international. His first arrived in markedly different circumstances against Sri Lanka at in Perth in 2002, when England required a rearguard effort. Unlike him he was prepared to take the aerial route as he scored heavily through the leg side. Together they added 210 from 151 balls and as they entered the final over it seemed that England would overhaul the 398 for five scored by Sri Lanka against Kenya in Kandy in the 1996 World Cup. Instead, Nazmul Hossain produced the best over of the innings, including a yorker to dislodge Strauss leg-before. Nonetheless, the stand was the third-highest for any wicket for England.
With no pressure on his shoulders, Chris Tremlett made a useful debut. He offered little to hit and gained reward in his fifth over when Shahriar Nafees chopped on and Tushar Imran tickled a thin edge to Geraint Jones.
Having taken a hat-trick at Trent Bridge for Hampshire recently, Tremlett went close to repeating that achievement on a more auspicious occasion. Ashraful defended a short ball only to see it deflect on to the top of the stumps without removing a bail. The little batsman did not look back in any sense. It fell to Collingwood, using the slower ball to great effect, to make incursions. Ashraful became his first victim trying to make room to paddle and his straight line continued to reap dividends.
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HITTING NEW HEIGHTS
391-4 v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge, June 21, 2005
363-7 v Pakistan, Trent Bridge, August 20, 1992
334-4 v India, Lord’s, June 7, 1975
333-9 v Sri Lanka, Taunton, June 11, 1983
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325-5 v India, Lord’s, July 13, 2002
322-6 v New Zealand, the Oval, June 9, 1983
320-8 v Australia, Edgbaston, August 22, 1980
307-5 v India, the Oval, September 3, 2004
306-5 v West Indies, the Oval, May 26, 1995
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306-5 v Pakistan, Karachi, October 24, 2000
FULL SCOREBOARD FROM TRENT BRIDGE
England won the toss
ENGLAND
M E Trescothick c Shahriar b Nazmul 85
(65 balls, 2 sixes, 14 fours)
A J Strauss lbw b Nazmul 152
(128 balls, 19 fours)
*M P Vaughan b Nazmul 0
(8 balls)
A Flintoff c Bashar b Aftab 17
(21 balls, 1 six, 1 four)
P D Collingwood not out 112
(86 balls, 5 sixes, 10 fours)
†G O Jones not out 2
(1 ball)
Extras (b 1, lb 4, w 9, nb 9) 23
Total (4 wkts, 50 overs, 211min) 391
K P Pietersen, A F Giles, J Lewis, C T Tremlett, S J Harmison did not bat.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-141 (16.3; Strauss 45); 2-148 (19.0; Strauss 52); 3-179 (24.5; Strauss 65); 4-389 (49.5; Collingwood 112).
BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 10-0-71-0 (nb 2, w 2; 1 six, 9 fours; 6-0-23-0, 4-0-48-0); Tapash Baisya 7-0-87-0 (nb 7, w 2; 1 six, 13 fours; 3-0-25-0, 2-0-35-0, 1-0-11-0, 1-0-16-0); Nazmul Hossain 10-0-83-3 (w 2; 2 sixes, 11 fours; 4-0-43-0, 3-0-10-2, 3-0-30-1); Mohammad Rafique 10-0-54-0 (w 1; 2 sixes, 4 fours; 7-0-35-0, 3-0-19-0); Aftab Ahmed 10-0-65-1 (w 1; 1 six, 5 fours; 9-0-48-1, 1-0-17-0); Tushar Imran 3-0-26-0 (1 six, 2 fours; one spell).
SCORING NOTES: Score after 15 overs: 128 for 0.
BANGLADESH
Javed Omar Belim b Collingwood 59
(106 balls, 7 fours)
Shariar Nafis b Tremlett 10
(28 balls, 1 four)
Tushar Imran c Jones b Tremlett 0
(1 ball)
Mohammad Ashraful b Collingwood 94
(52 balls, 3 sixes, 11 fours)
*Habibul Bashar c Strauss b Collingwood 16
(23 balls, 1 four)
Aftab Ahmed c and b Collingwood 0
(1 ball)
†Khaled Mashud c Jones
b Collingwood 8
(12 balls)
Mohammad Rafique b Tremlett 19
(33 balls, 2 fours)
Mashrafe Mortaza b Collingwood 0
(8 balls)
Tapash Baisya b Tremlett 3
(6 balls)
Nazmul Hossain not out 2
(6 balls)
Extras (w 6, nb 6) 12
Total (45.2 overs, 187min) 223
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-30 (9.2; Javed 14); 2-30 (9.3; Javed 14); 3-155 (26.0; Javed 40); 4-181 (33.1; Javed 50); 5-181 (33.2; Javed 50); 6-196 (35.4; Mashud 6); 7-201 (37.4; Rafique 3); 8-201 (40.0; Rafique 3); 9-205 (41.0; Rafique 4).
BOWLING: Lewis 5-1-23-0 (nb 2, w 3; 3 fours; one spell); Tremlett 8.2-1-32-4 (nb 1, w 2; 3 fours; 6-1-24-2, 2.2-0-8-2); Harmison 8-1-55-0 (nb 3, w 1; 2 sixes, 6 fours; 3-0-37-0, 5-1-18-0); Flintoff 4-0-30-0 (1 six, 4 fours; one spell); Giles 10-0-52-0 (3 fours; one spell); Collingwood 10-1-31-6 (3 fours; one spell).
SCORING NOTES: Score after 15 overs: 93 for two. Two five-ball overs: 7th (Lewis’s 4th — Bowden); 15th (Harmison’s 3rd — Bowden). England won by 168 runs.
Match award: P D Collingwood.
Umpires: B F Bowden (New Zealand — 76th LOI) and D R Shepherd (168th).
Replay umpire: M R Benson.
Fourth umpire: N J Llong.
Referee: J J Crowe (New Zealand — 20th)
Compiled by Bill Frindall