We can beat you again, say Bangladesh

BANGLADESH are confident of beating England in the opening Champions Trophy fixture tomorrow — despite losing to India in their final warm-up game.

The Tigers compounded England’s dismal World Cup campaign in 2015, a 15-run victory sending home Eoin Morgan’s side in the group stage. They also took England to a decider in the hotly contested one-day series in Bangladesh last year.

They have impressed in the build-up to the tournament, beating New Zealand and Ireland in this month’s Tri-Nation series.

Not even yesterday’s 240-run defeat by India at The Oval dented their belief that England, one place above them in the ODI rankings, are there for the taking.

All-rounder Mehedi Hasan said: ‘We have done well in our last few matches against England. We are confident.’ Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha added: ‘Whatever you’ve done in the past gives you a little confidence. Our preparation was good apart from this game so we are confident.’

Bangladesh suffered a similar top-order collapse here to England’s capitulation against South Africa on Monday, finding themselves six for 22 in the eighth over. But Hathurusingha is not too concerned.

‘Early on in overcast conditions, if you lose one or two wickets, this can happen,’ he said. ‘So against England we will look to start well.’