Jos Buttler thumped 67 off 42 balls to underpin England’s 156 for six in the first of three T20s against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
Buttler bludgeoned four sixes in the arc between long-on and midwicket as well as four fours while the England captain shared stands of 80 with Phil Salt and 47 with Ben Duckett.
However, Duckett and Buttler were dismissed off successive deliveries and the springboard they provided was not capitalised upon as England added just 30 runs to their total in the last five overs.
In their first T20 since being crowned world champions last November, England – who fielded seven of the players who featured in the final against Pakistan – were asked to bat first in the afternoon sunshine and it was only Buttler who really got to grips with another tricky surface.
Phil Salt only intermittently hit top gear in what was a stodgy innings before nicking off for 38 from 35 balls, taking a review with him, while Dawid Malan contributed just four singles and then launched his sixth ball straight to long-on.
Duckett, called up especially for this series after missing the 2-1 ODI win because of his Test commitments, made an important cameo of 20 from 13 balls but unfortunately had his off-stump taken out by a Mustafizur Rahman grubber.
Buttler, dropped on 19, then slammed the next ball to wide long-on and from there, England’s batters were kept on the back foot by the slower balls sent down by Bangladesh’s quick bowlers.
Hasan Mahmud was the pick of the attack with two for 26, including the key wicket of Buttler, while there were wickets for fellow quicks Mustafizur and Taskin Ahmed and spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Nasum Ahmed.
