The Albany Gazette - Malan ton gives England thrilling win over Bangladesh

Malan hit an unbeaten 114 off 145 balls as England reached their target with eight balls to spare after the hosts had them reeling with Jos Buttler, Jason Roy and James Vince all out cheaply.

Earlier England bowled out Bangladesh for 209 with Moeen Ali, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid each claiming two wickets and Najmul Hossain scoring 58, his maiden ODI half-century.

The hosts made a decent start after electing to bat first, with skipper Tamim Iqbal making 23. But after Chris Woakes earned the first breakthrough with the wicket of Liton Das, England struck whenever a partnership was developing.

Tamim was bowled by Wood before spinners were called into action, as England got valuable South Asian practice ahead of their defence of the ODI World Cup crown in India later this year.

Moeen bowled Shakib Al Hasan for eight before Rashid picked up the wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim.

Najmul and Mahmudullah Riyad (31) forged a 53-run partnership for the fifth wicket before they fell in successive overs.

Debutant Will Jacks claimed the wicket of Afif Hossain three overs later to kill off Bangladesh's remaining chance of putting up a big total.

England made a poor start with the bat, with Taijul Islam picking up 3-54 and complemented brilliantly by other bowlers as Bangladesh made a match out of low scores.

With help from Shakib, Mehidy Miraz and Taskin Ahmed, the visitors were reduced to 103-5 halfway through the innings with Roy, Buttler and Vince all out for single-digit scores.

Jacks made a valiant 26 and then Moeen provided Malan with some support in a vital 38-run sixth wicket stand before Mehidy dismissed him for 14.

However Malan, who along with Moeen participated in the recent Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament, hung on to keep England in the hunt.

Tamim took a fine diving catch at mid-on to dismiss Woakes off Taijul for seven to give the game some tension with England still needing 49.

But Malan, who came to the crease in the second over after Shakib dismissed Roy for four, guided tail-ender Rashid (17 not out) to complete the win.

Player of the match Malan earlier brought his fourth hundred in ODIs with a boundary off Taskin. He struck eight fours and four sixes overall.

"(I) spent a fair bit of time in Bangladesh, especially at this ground. Told Jos it would have been tough to chase if they'd have got 30-40 more," Malan said afterwards.

"Satisfying to get over the line, handling pressure is part of the job."

"These are tough conditions. Malan's innings is an example for us on how to play on these wickets," Buttler said.

"There's plenty of areas to work and improve. It's about small partnerships on wickets like these."

Tamim said his side "should have scored at least 30-35 more".

"Have to give it to Malan," he conceded. "We tried everything in our bowling option."

(S.G.Stein--BBZ)