Opener Jason Roy shines as England swat aside Bangladesh to inch closer to semifinals

DUBAI, October 27

England continued their march towards the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup with their second successive victory, an eight-wicket romp against Bangladesh in a Group I match in Abu Dhabi, today.

England spinner Moeen Ali (2-18) struck in the powerplay and Tymal Mills (3-27) dominated the death-overs to restrict Bangladesh to a below-par 124-9 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Opener Jason Roy smashed 61 off 38 balls as England, bidding to become the first team to hold the 50-overs and 20-overs World Cups at the same time, chased down the target with 5.5 overs to maintain their top spot in the six-team group.

Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat on what their skipper Mahmudullah described as a “belter” at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Mahmudullah was soon left to rue that decision as England dominated the powerplay reducing Bangladesh to 27/3 after the first six overs.

Moeen has enjoyed operating with the new ball in recent times and the off-spinner once again was in the thick of things removing both the openers in the third over.

Liton Das offered a top-edge at backward square leg and Mohammad Naim sent the next ball straight to the mid-on fielder and Bangladesh’s powerplay woes were not over yet.

Adil Rashid took a tumbling catch running backwards at short fine leg to dismiss Bangladesh’s talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for four.

Mushfiqur Rahim made a run-a-ball 29 before trying to reverse-sweep Liam Livingstone and getting trapped lbw in the process. — Reuters

Hardik bowls in nets

Dubai: Hardik Pandya today bowled in the nets for the first time in months, raising the possibility of him returning to the side for the crucial game against New Zealand as an all-rounder and giving India a much-needed sixth bowling option. India find themselves in a must win situation after the 10-wicket hammering they got from Pakistan.

Waqar apologises

Dubai: Waqar Younis today apologised for his communal remarks during a television show following Pakistan’s victory over India. Appearing on the A Sports channel, Younis had spoken about how opener Muhammad Rizwan had taken time out during a break in the Pakistan innings to offer prayers on the ground.

SA wait on De Kock

Cape Town: Cricket South Africa are waiting for Quinton de Kock to explain his motives for pulling out of the win over West Indies on Tuesday as his future with the team hangs in the balance. agencies