England collapse gifts Bangladesh consolation win in final ODI of three-match series | Cricket News

England missed out on the chance of a series sweep of Bangladesh as they succumbed to a 50-run defeat to their hosts in the third and final one-day international in Chattogram.

England romped to a 132-run win in the second ODI on Friday, but Monday’s game followed much the same pattern as the series opener which saw the visitors squeak home to a three-wicket win when chasing 210.

Captain Jos Buttler said at the time that “it would have been tough to chase if they’d have got 30-40 more runs”, and so it proved as England were bowled out for 196 in pursuit of 247 on another testing batting surface – despite a change in venue from Mirpur.

Eighteen-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed (1-62) – England’s youngest-ever debutant in ODI cricket – claimed a maiden wicket, and Jofra Archer (3-35) impressively cleaned up the tail as England skittled Bangladesh for 246 after Tamim Iqbal won the toss.

Shakib dazzles with superb all-round display

In reply, Jason Roy (19) and particularly Phil Salt (35) got England off to a flier, the pair putting on fifty together inside the opening only for, two balls later, Salt to depart to Shakib Al Hasan when attempting one shot too many.

It was the first of three wickets in the space of eight balls, for one run, as England’s top order suddenly subsided. It was also the first of four wickets for Shakib (4-35) in a match-winning performance, pairing his bowling feats with an earlier 75 from 71 balls with the bat to top-score for the Tigers.

James Vince (38) and Sam Curran (23), the all-rounder promoted up to No 5 in the order, combined well in a 49-run stand for England that helped steady their chase after the earlier chaos, but the pair fell within the space of three overs as part of another batting wobble by the tourists to see them stumble to 130-6.

Buttler fell for 26 to all but end the contest, with Chris Woakes (34) ultimately the final wicket to fall – caught and bowled by Mustafizur Rahman (1-25) – as England were bowled in 43.1 overs, clinching a consolation victory for Bangladesh and giving them a much-needed lift heading into the three-match T20I series between the teams which starts on Thursday.

Curran (2-52) provided the early impetus for England yet again with the new ball. Having picked up two wickets in his opening over in the second ODI win, and three in his first two, he was at it again with the dismissal of Litton Das for a duck, caught behind, with the fifth ball of the game and then added Tamim (11) in his second off a leading edge to point.

But far from deflating their already-defeated hosts in the series, Bangladesh rallied, with Najmul Hossain Shanto (53) and Mushfiqur Rahim (70) batting beautifully, and patiently, in a 98-run partnership for the third wicket.

Given how well both were playing, they will have been hugely frustrated to gift England Shanto’s wicket via a run-out after a calamitous mix-up between the pair.

Adil Rashid (2-21) claimed the important wicket of Mushfiqur, and added Mahmudullah (8) – both out bowled – in a mini five-over cameo, as the veteran leg-spinner ceded most of the work to the young debutant Ahmed.

Ahmed’s magical moment on ODI debut

Shakib rattled along to a fine fifty of his own to open the 44th over – his 52nd in ODI cricket and fourth against England – before Afif Hossain (15) fell three balls later, picking out the fielder at cover off Woakes (1-27).

Ahmed then had his magical moment to cap his debut spell, claiming his maiden wicket with the very last delivery of his allotted 10 overs, Mehidy Hasan (5) caught and bowled, before Archer blasted out the tail either side of the key scalp of Shakib.

In a series that has seen the opening powerplay used more cautiously, by both sides, due to low-scoring nature of the wickets, England’s rollicking start to their run-chase will have caught Bangladesh off guard. It looked, if anything, like they’d make light work of their chase as Roy and Salt cracked 10 boundaries inside the opening nine overs before the latter slapped Shakib straight to cover.

England’s top-order subside in space of eight balls

The Tigers came roaring back as Dawid Malan, who so expertly steered England to victory in the series opener, departed for a duck, miscuing Ebadot Hossain (2-28) to mid-on, and Roy was bowled by Shakib to open his subsequent over and see him on a hat-trick.

Curran did more than just survive the hat-trick delivery, as he and Vince briefly threatened to drag the team on their back to victory only for, one run shy of their fifty stand, Curran to spoon Mehidy (1-46) to long-off and then Shakib to step forward in another key moment as he got Vince to nick off with a beauty.

Moeen Ali (2) hung around all of five deliveries before being yorked by Ebadot, while the writing was firmly on the wall with Buttler’s dismissal, lbw when looking to reverse sweep Taijul Islam (2-52), who’d return to claim the wicket of Rashid (8).

Ahmed’s (2) debut innings was swiftly ended by a super diving grab from Mehidy to earn Shakib a fourth wicket and the 300th of his impressive ODI career, while he then thought he’d wrapped up the match by claiming a five-for with his final delivery as Archer was given out lbw – only for the decision to be overturned on review.

It mattered little in the wider context of the game, however, as Woakes was picked up caught and bowled off the very first delivery of Mustafizur’s subsequent over to secure a handsome victory for Bangladesh.

The two teams face off again later this week in the first T20 international of a three-match series, live on Sky Sports, on Thursday.

Buttler: Series exactly what we wanted

England captain Jos Buttler…

“We wanted desperately to win the game today, but we are delighted to win the series. Happy with the score we were chasing and got off to a good start, but Bangladesh fought back well.

“We got out of this tour what we wanted. We wanted to play on wickets like this. It’s great to challenge ourselves on these conditions, and it’s been valuable to us. We can build on this leading into the World Cup.”

Shakib: Bangladesh fought till the end

Player of the match Shakib Al Hasan…

“We have been very good in the last five to seven years at home. We can take a lot of credit from the game. We showed a lot of character and fought till the end.

“We thought we were 20-30 runs short but, having said that, our bowlers talked about having to step up and do the job for the team. Luckily, all the bowlers contributed today.

“We expect our players to score hundreds not fifties, so we hope that improvement comes.”

Tamim: Room for improvement

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal…

“We were looking forward to this game. We want to finish on a high.

“We’re still disappointed that we lost the series. We take a lot of pride when we play at home. The first game was the killer.

“Credit must go to England. Some individuals were brilliant for England. It still wasn’t the best game we played. We should have scored 270-280, but the bowling was excellent.

“There is a lot of room for improvement.”

What’s next?

England are back in Chattogram for the first game of the three-match T20 international series against Bangladesh on Thursday. Live coverage starts from 8.30am on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event, with play getting under way from 9am.

Watch England’s three-match T20I series in Bangladesh live on Sky Sports and stream on NOW TV.