Tension, joy, and broken hearts

Darkness had come again, but still the final words had yet to be written. A thrilling test match had been left in the balance, narrow margins separating both sides from victory. For England, two wickets; for Bangladesh, 33 runs for a historic victory. A low scoring match had proven a thriller. The tension would be carried overnight.

Of course, that was just part of the story. There had been England's recovery on the first day, and Bangladesh for the most part looking comfortable with the bat on the second. They were led again by their talisman with the bat, Tamim Iqbal, who simply seems to love playing against England - as two centuries and five fifties in ten innings can attest. The last wicket of the day was the first in the game to fall to seam, when Mushfiqur Rahim (48) was caught behind off Stokes in the final over of the day. Spin dominated proceedings on a turning pitch, but it was still far from a paradise for England's trio. There were undeniably some cracking deliveries - Rashid's dismissal of Mahmudullah (38) a prime example, a classic legspinner's wicket - but a lot of the time, batsmen raised on a diet of spin were more than happy to face them.

Where England were strong, however, proved to be where Bangladesh were weaker. In the first innings, England's last five wickets contributed 187, transforming a struggling innings to a decent score on the board of 293. Bangladesh's lower order were less successful, the last six wickets falling for only 27 runs; their hopes of a lead at 221/4 faltering as they stumbled to 248. Ben Stokes had been the pick for England, striking three times on that third morning for figures of 4/26, his reverse swing proving a potent weapon.

As is the glory of all-rounders, he wasn't done for the day. Frustratingly, England's top order faltered once again - and I really hate sounding like a broken record, but it just keeps happening. Gary Balance is one whose place looks increasingly under threat, and as much as I would desperately like him to succeed, even I'm not sure how much longer he can hold down his place. Hameed, Buttler, and Ansari are all waiting in the wings. But, at 62/5, Ben Stokes (85) stood up and made his mark for the second time in the day. His batting on the subcontinent has come on hugely already this tour, and his growing maturity shone through in a patient innings that was still aggressive when needed, and thoroughly hard-fought. Bairstow of course joined him, chipping in 47 runs as the two shared a partnership worth 127 runs. England's innings was rescued again, a total of 240 setting Bangladesh 286 runs to win.

The big wicket of Tamim Iqbal fell early, a start that boded well for England. But Bangladesh were on the counterpunch, Imrul Kayes scoring a 61-ball 43 that saw the initiative go back in the host's favour. It was an approach enough to put Alastair Cook on the back foot, a captain always likely to edge towards the defensive, particularly when bowling his spinners. But either side of lunch, England wrested control again - first through Rashid's dismissal of Kayes, and then Gareth Batty picking up the wickets of Mominul Haque and Mahmudullah in quick succession. Batty's call up for this tour - at 39 years old and with a gap of 142 tests since his last cap in 2005 - certainly raised some eyebrows, mine included. But this was him doing exactly what he was picked for - always having the fight about him, and often more control than his younger spin colleagues. At 108/4 and then 140/5, England looked in control again.

Sabbir Rahman had other ideas. It might have been his debut, Bangladesh might have been chasing their most significant test victory to date, but you couldn't tell that from the way he batted. He took on England's bowlers from the start, putting the pressure back on Cook and testing his faith in his trio of spinners. It was a battle Sabbir won when after tea England bowled a pair of quicks together in Woakes and Stokes, with the ball not yet offering a great deal of reverse swing. In terms of the run rate, the thinking was clear - spin went at over three an over whilst pace went at under two - but when Batty returned and picked up the wicket of Mushfiqur almost straight away, it felt that maybe an opportunity had been missed. It was the key breakthrough, a partnership that was starting to look like a matchwinning effort as Bangladesh edged ever closer to England's target. With it broken, England looked the most likely winners.

But Sabbir fought until the very end. Stuart Broad ran in to bowl - a nine over spell on the fourth evening - and whilst his partners were dismissed, Sabbir was still there, still batting. Broad might have been anonymous for periods of the game, but at the crunch end he was delivering, doing his job as the leader of the attack. Darkness had fallen, but Broad was bowling too well to be taken off. The contest would be carried overnight.

Cricket is a cruel and beautiful game. For all Bangladesh's fight, for all Sabbir Rahman's best efforts, he could only watch from the other end when Stokes had his way, two LBWs in three deliveries wrapping up the game for England. Sabbir finished with 64*, but it will be the 23 unscored runs that will have the most impact. The match ended in heartbreak for the hosts, elation and relief for the visitors.

Selected thoughts: Bangladesh vs England ODIs

And so the winter begins, three ODIs and two tests in Bangladesh to form the first leg of England's tour to Asia. Maybe a few years ago, it might have looked a relatively straight forward prospect. But not any more. Over the past couple of years or so, Bangladesh have been one of the most improved teams in ODI cricket - six series wins on the bounce can attest to this, and who can forget their victory over England to reach the World Cup quarter finals last year? With England another team on the rise, the series offered an interesting contest.

Game one, and it was the Bens who shone for England. Duckett, on debut, and Stokes came together at the crease at the not-so-simple position of 63/3 for England. But Duckett looked up to the task from the start, tough and ready for the challenge in the first game. It wasn't simple by any means with unfamiliar conditions and a difficult situation, but he passed his first test on the international stage, a crucial score of 60 anchoring England's innings. Alongside him, Ben Stokes made his first ODI century. Perhaps it wasn't as flamboyant as we've seen before, just over a run a ball though still with four sixes, but it showed his improvement in slow, turning conditions - and an upward curve as an ODI batsman. At the start of this year, he had passed fifty just twice in 34 games; this year he's passed the mark five times, and this was his third score above fifty in a row. The pair's partnership was worth 153, giving the captain Buttler time for his customary blitz (63 from 38, making it look all too easy), and England finished on 309/8.

Yet in response, Bangladesh looked to be cruising. At 153/4, it might have gone either way. But at 271/4, they were safely heading for the win, a brilliant century from Imrul Kayes (112) and an attacking 79 from 55 for Shakib Al Hasan setting them on the path for victory. England were drifting, a bowling attack possibly suffering from a lack of variety without the extra pace of the injured Plunkett. But they didn't give up. Somehow, Bangladesh lost five wickets in the space of nine runs and the match was transformed. Jake Ball became the first Englishman to take a five-for on debut, whilst at the other end Rashid had picked up four - with a run-out to boot. England may have been wilting in the stifling heat and humidity - and Ball looked to be running on empty as he looked for that final wicket - but they fought to the very end. Buttler had passed his first test as captain, and England had dramatically drawn the first blood.

Match two, and it was a good bowling performance from England. Bangladesh could never quite get away, England being tight with the ball and regularly breaking partnerships before they could get going. For much of the innings, only Mahmudullah (75) could really settle and score at a decent rate. But the captain came to the crease and was the man to make the difference - Mashrafe Mortaza making 44 from 29, supported by Nasir Hossain with a run-a-ball 27. A total of 238 was one England might have fancied - but that blitz at the end was the sort that could make all the difference.

Straight away England struggled. Bangladesh opened the bowling with the spin of Shakib to great effect, and with three wickets from Mortaza England were 31/4 after the first powerplay. England were rebuilding before they'd even begun. And though Bairstow (35) and the ever-impressive Buttler - using his feet in a run-a-ball 57 - had made something of a recovery, three wickets from Taskin Ahmed brought the innings crashing down again. Tensions started to fly, the normally calm duo of Buttler and Woakes riled up after the celebration of Buttler's wicket, but despite a mini-fightback from the last wicket pair of Rashid and Ball, Bangladesh sealed a deserved victory by 34 runs. The finale was set, and now with an added spice.

And so, to the decider. Bangladesh made a good start, a pair of forties from openers Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal - the latter becoming the first Bangladeshi batsman to pass 5000 runs in ODI cricket. Sabbir Rahman also made 49 with Mushfiqur Rahim top scoring with 67*, while England's fast bowlers struggled to make an impact. Plunkett had returned to the side in favour of David Willey, and - though in most cases I'm an advocate of his presence - in these conditions the extra spin option of Liam Dawson would likely have been a better call. Rashid was the pick of the bowlers, finding turn to pick up 4-43 (though the bad balls picked up more wickets than the good), but a score of 277/6 still looked a tricky one to chase.

But England had their own strong start. With an injury to Jason Roy, maybe Sam Billings wasn't the most immediate choice to open the innings - but he seized his opportunity with both hands, making 62 from 69 deliveries. Duckett was also in the runs, scoring his second fifty of the series after a duck in the previous game. It was a show of the fantastic young talent England have on offer; the only problem being who will miss out when the trio of Root, Hales, and Morgan also return to the team. Stokes was also there at the end with 47*, while Chris Woakes finished the job off with a six down the ground, cool as you like. It was a fine and mature chase, and a fine performance by England to win the series.

It might not always have been plain sailing, but the best challenges never are. It was a hard fought, competitive series, and after the second game, one with that extra spice about it. But England came through at the crucial moments - when Bangladesh crumbled at the end of the first match, and with a strong run chase in the final match. Then again, had it gone the other way we would have been saying that about Bangladesh - Mashrafe Mortaza's performance in the second game especially. In a hard fought series it's often a matter of fine margins, and how a team fares in the big moments. And this time, in a stern test, England pulled through.

Crashing out again

There was a sad inevitability about England's loss to Bangladesh today. It was the pressure match, the one they needed to win to progress to the quarter finals, and instead they find themselves already knocked out with a match still to play, against Afghanistan. They have lost all their matches against test nations, their sole victory being against Scotland, and really it's obvious to see that they don't deserve to be in the next round.

And who couldn't be happy for Bangladesh? It was a well deserved victory, a performance with both bat and ball. Mahmudullah scored Bangladesh's first ever world cup century, coming in with the team under pressure at 10/2. Mushfiqur Rahim nearly scored the country's second, scoring 89 before falling in the closing overs. And the bowling was even better - Rubel Hossain took four wickets and was the fastest bowler of the match; Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed took two apiece; the spinners held England back. And the celebrations were brilliant for what became one of Bangladesh's biggest and best days of international cricket.

But it was yet another tale of woe for England. Their bowling was better - incision at the start with two wickets, and more at the end to restrict Bangladesh in the last five overs. The result was a total of 276 runs to be chasing down - certainly gettable (and especially by the standards of this tournament), but also enough for the nerves to kick in if the wickets were to fall. Which, of course, they did. But at least they mixed it up - rather than collapsing in the middle overs to spin, they did it to pace instead for this match. What a treat. Several batsmen made starts but didn't go on, some just didn't get in at all - Morgan, again. Bell made it to 63, once again getting a start but not going on - an all too common theme in his career, and an especially bad problem for a senior player in a struggling team.

It was another case where the batsmen in the lower order were left with too much to do. Buttler is one of the leading lights of the team but he can't do the whole job by himself - and really, for him to have the full impact he could have, he should be higher up the order. He made 65 from 52, and Woakes was left stranded on 42*. They did a good job, but the top order let them down, left too much to do with too few overs and too few wickets. Like a bad dream, happening again and again and again and again.

England have simply been substandard throughout the whole tournament. With the bat there have been too many collapses, and the general mentality has been so far behind the other teams. With the ball, they've let themselves down as well: the big names of Broad and Anderson not living up to their reputations; Finn took wickets but more backward steps; bowlers generally just averaging around fifty or more. In the field, they've not been at their best. And the captaincy has turned out as conservative and disappointing as it was before.

And to think, we went in to the World Cup with a slither of optimism. They'd given us some hope, some signs of promise in the tri-series beforehand that gave us some cause for belief that they might, might just surprise us. But then it was more of the same. Another World Cup, another failure. Better luck next time.