Bangladesh produced a performance of immense spirit and character as they secured their first victory over England in any format with a famous five-run win at Bristol. In an extraordinary finale, Ian Bell limped out at No. 11 with a broken foot to accompany Jonathan Trott, but Trott edged a cut off the third ball of the final over bowled by Shafiul Islam after making 94 to send Bangladesh into scenes of wild celebration.
Trott had taken 13 off the five balls in the penultimate over from Mashrafe Mortaza, but James Anderson could only pop the final delivery back to the bowler. Bangladesh thought that was the victory and began ripping up the stumps in celebration, but Bell hobbled down the steps with Morgan as his runner and hoped that Trott could get the 10 needed from final over. He managed consecutive twos, but then tried to go through the off side and edged to the wicketkeeper to leave him disconsolate at the crease. He didn't even remark his guard.
What makes Bangladesh's success even more remarkable is the state in which they entered this game. Two leading players, Raqibul Hasan who top-scored at Trent Bridge and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, had been ruled out of the series and one of their replacements, Mohammad Ashraful only arrived in the country 14 hours before the toss. Add to that Bangladesh's 24-match losing run and the previous inability of their attack to assert any pressure and this has to go down as one of the more remarkable reversals.
After the batsmen had again stuttered the bowlers lifted themselves, led by the efforts of Rubel Hossain and Abdur Razzak who shared four crucial top-order wickets as the hosts' batting suffered a collective malfunction. Trott kept England in with a chance as he added 43 with Stuart Broad, but when Broad drove to point and Mortaza only conceded three from the 48th over the balance of the game tilted towards Bangladesh.
When Imrul Kayes had laboured to a worthy, but uninspired, 76 in Bangladesh's total of 236 for 7 - during which they scored just 87 in the last 20 overs - it appeared all they had done was keep their head above water and avoid humilation. As Andrew Strauss and Craig Kieswetter added 49 in 7.5 overs it was a question of how many overs England would have to spare at the end.
Maybe England were even starting to think that way, having played Bangladesh on eight previous occasions this year and witnessed they inability to maintain pressure. Michael Yardy, Luke Wright and Ajmal Shahzad played horrid shots when they had a chance to prove their bottle for a tense run chase. England have occasionally taken their eye off the ball before in both Tests and ODIs, but have had the experience and class to pull the situation. Not this time, and the problems started when the openers gave their wickets away in quick succession as happened at Trent Bridge.
Rubel, whose recall suddenly looked inspired, sparked the team into life with a bustling display. In his first over Strauss tried to guide the ball over the slips and feathered a catch to the stand-in keeper Jahurul Islam, who looked more than competent as Musfiqur's replacement. Rubel struck again in his next over as Kieswetter played a flat-footed drive to give the keeper his second chance and Bangladesh were unlucky not to make it two wickets in two balls. Collingwood flashed hard at his first delivery and the fielding side were convinced of the edge, so much so that Rubel and Jahurul were well into their celebrations when umpire Richard Illingworth turned them down.
Subsequent replays confirmed a healthy edge but to Bangladesh's credit they continued to maintain their discipline and keep the run-rate down. Collingwood broke the shackles when he pulled Rubel for six before the scales evened themselves as Collingwood was given lbw to Razzak despite a big inside edge onto his pad. Even the batsman had a rueful smile as he made his way off.
Morgan, who was England's saviour when they came close to defeat in Dhaka earlier this year, began with an edge through the vacant slip cordon but collected his first failure of the ODI season when he tried to turn Razzak into the leg side. Still, if England want to become the best one-day team in the world they can't rely on Morgan's freakish skills.
Trott's style couldn't be more mundane in comparison to Morgan, but he now became vital for England's chase. He kept losing partners as Yardy had a horrid swipe across the line, a shot replicated by Shahzad as the asking rate grew, while Wright's regression after a promising start against Australia continued when he edged a wild drive to slip where Junaid Siddique held on at the second attempt.
At times Trott still seemed in his own little world as he pushed singles with the required rate climbing past seven an over, but in the penultimate over he sparked into life and for a few moments it appeared Bangladesh would bottle their chance again. Shafiul, whose first over had cost 12, held his nerve and England can't say they didn't have the result coming after another indifferent display in the field.
Shahzad was the pick of the attack removing Tamim Iqbal early and returning to grab Jahurul and top-scorer Kayes as he claimed 3 for 41. However, his fielding was a concern as he missed Kayes at gully and then watched another ball sail over his head at third man after he'd run in too quickly.
Anderson's difficult time with the new ball continued as his first spell of four overs cost 24 and Bangladesh built a strong foundation as Kayes and Jahurul added 83 for the third wicket. England again had to take pace off the ball through Yardy and Collingwood to assert themselves and once Jahurul was caught behind the innings faded like it had at Trent Bridge.
The last 20 overs brought just 87 runs but, in what would prove crucial in the final outcome, Mortaza managed to connect with some hefty blows during the batting Powerplay. Still, it looked like a formality for England to take the series but a few hours later it was a chastened home dressing room that had to watch the jubilant Bangladesh players sprint around the outfield in celebration.
