Andrew Strauss was left “bitterly disappointed” as England wasted a winning position to slip to a two-wicket defeat against Bangladesh, a result that leaves their World Cup quarter-final hopes back in the balance.
Jonathan Trott (67) and Eoin Morgan (63) scored half-centuries to lead England away from trouble at 53-3 to a final total of 225 in Chittagong.
And that looked to be enough as Ajmal Shahzad (3-43) took three wickets to reduce Bangladesh to 169-8 in reply.
But England could not dislodge Mahmudullah (21no) and Shafiul Islam (24no), Bangladesh’s ninth-wicket pair putting on an unbroken 58 to see their side home from the final ball of the penultimate over.
“We struggled a little bit with the bat but I thought 225 was a competitive total,” Strauss told Sky Sports.
“We needed to bowl and field well and didn’t do it as well as we’d have liked.
“(But) we got ourselves in a great position to win the game at the end where we couldn’t take those final two wickets.
“We are bitterly disappointed and will have to bounce back well against the West Indies (in their final group match).”
Mistake
Strauss admitted the loss of early wickets, including himself, was not ideal but felt the bowling – England donated 23 wides among 33 extras – was equally to blame.
“Losing those three wickets early was a big mistake for us and also our bowling with the new ball could have been a lot better than it was,” he added.
“We fought hard and got ourselves in a position to win the game but we weren’t able to put the final nail in the coffin.
“In a low-scoring game you can’t afford to bowl that many (wides). We are very disappointed, this is a real missed opportunity.
“But you can’t dwell on it too long, you’ve got to look forward.”
Strauss was at least able to take positives from the performances of Morgan, making his return from injury after being called up to replace Kevin Pietersen in the squad, and Shahzad.
“He played brilliantly,” Strauss said of Morgan. “He took the game to the opposition at a time when it might have been difficult to do that.
“He’s very good against spin in the middle overs. Hopefully there’s more to come from him.
“Ajmal Shahzad bowled well at the end. They were the two positives for us but we’re very disappointed.”
England will still reach the quarter-finals if they beat West Indies in their final Group B match on March 17.
