Malan century puts England back on track
AN OUTSTANDING century from Dawid Malan and Reece Topley’s eyecatching return put England’s World Cup defence back on track as they hammered Bangladesh by 137 runs in Dharamshala. The 2019 champions were bruised by a thumping loss to New Zealand in the tournament opener but banked a handsome win of their own to cap their visit to the outer ranges of the Himalayas. Malan was the architect, rolling out a career-best 140 in 107 balls as he carried England to 364 for nine with a fourth century in his last nine innings. At one stage they would have backed themselves to post 400, but a flurry of wickets at the back end kept them to a less flashy figure. It was still their biggest World Cup total on foreign soil and easily enough to get the job done against outmatched opponents who were railroaded by Topley. England bolstered their pace attack by swapping out spin-bowling allrounder Moeen Ali for the 6ft 7in left-armer and it proved an inspired decision as Topley blew away the Bangladesh top order and finished with four for 43. He took two in two balls in his opening over, clean bowled captain Shakib Al Hasan with a wonderful ball and circled back for the battling Mushfiqur Rahim. He was the pick of the pack throughout and will take some budging from the teamsheet now. Bangladesh lost their way entirely with the bat, ambling aimlessly to 227 all out and helping repair much of the previous damage to England’s net run-rate. Elsewhere, Pakistan recorded the highest successful run chase in Cricket World Cup history as they beat Sri Lanka by six wickets. Centuries from Kusal Mendis (122) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (108) helped Sri Lanka set a total of 344 for nine. But Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique (113) and Mohammad Rizwan (131 not out) hit centuries of their own to give their side an important victory. Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka hit 51 off 61 deliveries, which made up for partner Kusal Perera’s duck. Rizwan, who hit 11 boundaries, rounded off an unbelievable show as he struck the winning runs to confirm a historic victory.