Eoin Morgan hammered a century under pressure to power England to a thrilling two-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the second one-day international on Tuesday.
Man-of-the-match Morgan hit a 104-ball 110 not out for his second one-day hundred as England surpassed Bangladesh’s 260-6 with seven balls to spare in the day-night match for an unbeaten 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
The 23-year-old also became the first batsman in one-day cricket to score centuries for two countries, his first hundred coming for Ireland against Canada in Nairobi in 2007.
“It got a bit close for our liking, but Eoin came in with a fantastic knock. He was calm under pressure,” England captain Alastair Cook said. “We came here to win and have won the series. We have to try to win the series 3-0.”
Left-arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan (3-32) and Abdur Razzak (3-52) raised hopes of a Bangladeshi win before Morgan steered his team home in a close finish.
England were struggling at 108-4 and then 229-8, but Morgan kept his cool to finish the match with his second six off seamer Shafiul Islam. He also hit eight fours.
“When they lost eight wickets we thought it was our best chance to pick up a win, but Morgan stood tall,” Bangladesh skipper Shakib said. “I thought we batted well, but Morgan played really well and according to his plan. Full credit to him.”
Morgan put on 90 for the fifth wicket with wicket-keeper Matt Prior (42) before Shakib removed Luke Wright and Graeme Swann.
He eased the pressure with his brisk knock, pulling Shafiul for the first six and reverse-sweeping the spinners for fours on a few occasions.
Bangladesh posted their highest one-day total against England after being put in to bat, thanks to impressive half-centuries from wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim (76) and opener Imrul Kayes (63).
England’s troubles began when spin was introduced after seven overs, with Razzak trapping Kevin Pietersen (18) and Paul Collingwood (seven) leg-before.
The tourists suffered another setback when Cook (60) was caught by wicket-keeper Rahim on the second attempt off Shakib.
Cook looked in good touch, hitting three successive fours off Shafiul early in his knock before going on to complete his half-century.
The England skipper then hit off-spinner Mahmudullah for his lone six in a 61-ball knock before falling in the next over.
Bangladesh earlier lost opener Tamim Iqbal (30) and Aftab Ahmed (four) in the opening 11 overs before being propped up by Kayes and Rahim, who added 90 for the third wicket.
Paceman Tim Bresnan (3-51) and off-spinner Swann (2-52) were the main wicket-takers for England.
Rahim completed his half-century before falling in a bid to step up the run-rate, caught by Wright at mid-wicket off Bresnan.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
RSS