Jason Roy’s 132 off 124 balls and Adil Rashid’s four-wicket haul the day after giving testimony into alleged racism at Yorkshire helped England seal an accomplished ODI series win over Bangladesh.
Roy struggled in tricky conditions in Dhaka but bloomed as his innings progressed, recording his first ton in the subcontinent and 12th overall, moving up to joint third in the all-time England list.
He shared a 109-run stand with Jos Buttler, who scored 76 off 64 balls, while there were late cameos from Moeen Ali (42 off 35) and Sam Curran (33no off 19) as England surged to 326 for seven.
After Curran took three wickets in five balls at the outset of the reply, Rashid ripped through the middle order to finish with four for 45, as Bangladesh subsided to 194 all out, and a 132-run thumping guarantees their first ODI series loss at home since 2016 as England went 2-0 up with one to play.
Rashid’s performance was all the more impressive given he spent the previous evening being grilled via video link at the Cricket Discipline Commission hearing in London, in which he repeatedly corroborated Azeem Rafiq’s claim that former England captain Michael Vaughan had allegedly made a racist remark at Yorkshire in 2009.
Curran wrapped up an England win to finish with four for 29 as last year’s T20 World Cup player of the final and tournament underlined his credentials for the 50-over version in the autumn.
An unchanged Bangladesh won the toss for a second time in oppressive heat but opted to bowl first while Curran and Saqib Mahmood, making his return after 10 months out injured, were brought in for England following their three-wicket win 48 hours earlier, with Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes rested.
Roy was tested by what is perceived to be a frailty first up as Bangladesh plumped for slow left-armers at either end. While Taijul Islam’s first-ball long-hop was dispatched to the midwicket fence, it was a rare instance of Roy finding the middle of the bat in the powerplay.
He gradually found rhythm, negotiating the spin by advancing down the track or using unconventional sweeps and took successive fours off Taijul.
But Dawid Malan came unstuck to Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s sharp turning off-break while Taijul found just enough spin to kiss James Vince’s outside edge, leaving England 96 for three.
Buttler got off nought by reverse sweeping Taijul later in the over but might have been run out on eight, stranded in mid-pitch after miscommunication with Roy. But Buttler scurried back and was spared by a dive and a woeful throw from cover, one of several fielding errors from the hosts.
Roy launched Mehidy down the ground for six before a single took him to a 104-ball hundred. He upped the ante when Taskin Ahmed erred in length, claiming three fours in an over, but was plumb lbw after missing a sweep at Shakib Al Hasan.
England were unshackled in the last 10 overs, with Buttler dispatching Shakib’s drag down for four to reach a run-a-ball fifty and then lofting Mehidy for successive straight sixes.
Mehidy had his revenge off the next ball, holding on to a fantastic reflex return catch, but was twice hoisted over the midwicket fence in his following over by Moeen, while Curran provided some late impetus with three sixes as England added 107 in the last 60 balls.
Bangladesh needed their highest successful chase in ODIs to level the series but were two down after five balls as Litton Das was persuaded into a loose drive off Curran, who then drew Najmul Hossain Shanto into following an outswinger to also depart for a golden duck.
Mushfiqur Rahim survived the hat-trick ball but was on his way back to the pavilion in Curran’s next over after a review, with technology showing he got a feather to one angled across him.
While a frenzied crowd cheered on Tamim Iqbal and Shakib as the rumoured friends-turned-enemies averted a total collapse in a patient 79-run union, there was little sense of a fightback brewing.
Captain Tamim holed out for 35 while Rashid, not introduced until the 24th over of the reply, was in the wickets column when an off-balance Shakib miscued to mid-off to depart for 58 off 69 balls.
A conventional leg-break did for Mahmudullah, who edged to slip, while Rashid then located the outside edge of Afif Hossain’s bat before Mehidy picked out substitute fielder Rehan Ahmed at long-off as Bangladesh folded in 44.4 overs.
