Cricket World Cup: Dawid Malan and Joe Root in the runs for England but others still to fire
Dawid Malan scored a career-best 140 in England's 137-run win against Bangladesh; Joe Root also became the country's leading run-scorer in ODI World Cups with 82 but not everyone cashed in; England next face Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday (first ball at 9.30am UK time)
Wednesday 11 October 2023 11:01, UK
England owed much of their opening win of the Cricket World Cup to two batters in the shape of an in-form Dawid Malan and the ever-reliable Joe Root.
But while two players cashed in on their opportunities to go big in Dharamshala on Tuesday, others were less profligate with the bat, leaving the odd question mark over the make-up of Jos Buttler's side for the rest of the tournament.
Malan and Root were the lynchpins in England's 137-run victory which saw them bounce back from a thumping nine-wicket defeat by New Zealand in their opening game.
- Dawid Malan and Reece Topley impress as England bounce back at World Cup
- England beat Bangladesh by 137 runs - as it happened in Dharamshala
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- Cricket World Cup table - standings as sides fight for top four
- Cricket World Cup - results/fixtures with every game on Sky
Much-maligned Malan keeps delivering
While arguably a divisive selection in England's ODI side for the past year, there can be no disagreeing with the numbers Malan keeps delivering.
Since breaking the long-established opening partnership of Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy from the victorious 2019 World Cup side, Malan has scored four centuries in his past nine innings and his career-best 140 off 107 balls included 16 fours and five sixes.
"It's nice to contribute," Malan modestly reflected after his player-of-the-match performance in Dharamshala.
"There's been a long journey to get to this stage, so to get here is fantastic and to put in a performance to help win a game is great as well.
"I don't know what it's down to, but hopefully it can continue."
Malan's spectacular 2023 to date in ODI cricket has not only seen him register four centuries, two against South Africa, one against New Zealand and the 140 against Bangladesh, but also included 96 off 95 balls against the Black Caps at The Oval in September.
His ODI career runs tally now stands at exactly 1,200 at an average of 63.15. But the right-hander's profitable calendar year to date has come after a perception in some circles that he lacks the all-round game for England's attacking brand of white ball cricket.
"Sometimes people create a narrative that isn't there to justify their own writing or views," Malan said.
"It's always been there. Sometimes I play good shots and sometimes I play bad shots, that's cricket.
"Sometimes you get on good wickets and it's about trying to cash in on the type of bowling that you think you're going to profit from on the day.
"I'm desperate to do well in this format and prove my point and people wrong so when I get in, I don't like to give it away."
Malan's thirst for runs has made him "indispensable" in the eyes of Sky Sports commentator Michael Atherton.
"He had to do something special to split up the Bairstow-Roy opening partnership," Atherton said.
"But he's made himself indispensable, undroppable. He is someone who enjoys pace coming on to the bat so he can sit back and let it come on to him.
"That pitch in Dharamsala was the perfect place for him to play really and he really made the most of the conditions.
"He's batting brilliantly this year and you could very much argue this format of the game is his best even though he made his name in T20 for a while."
Root continues to 'glue' England's top order
Malan shared a partnership of 151 from 117 deliveries with Root, who backed up his 77 from 86 balls in the opening game against New Zealand with 82 off 68 balls against Bangladesh.
In the process, he eclipsed former England captain Graham Gooch's haul of 897 runs in World Cups, doing so in two fewer matches.
It was also Root's 54th half-century in ODIs moving him one behind his former captain and team-mate Eoin Morgan on 55.
"You always feel that if England are to go a long way in this tournament then Joe Root will play a significant part," Morgan said.
"If you look back to 2019, he was England's highest run-scorer throughout and he plays a significant role in calming any situation.
"He scores a huge weight of runs and does it with a level of consistency that we've not seen for that period of time.
"I'd be more than happy if he absolutely flies past me with that record. He's such a class operator.
"He is the glue that holds an innings together and he does it so quickly and at ease. His statistics at getting off strike or finding the boundary are as good as Jos Buttler's at hitting fours and sixes."
But while England racked up 364-9 against Bangladesh, they arguably missed a golden opportunity to post a total towards 450 after the platform Bairstow (52), Malan and Root had provided to guide them to 266-2.
Harry Brook may find himself the man to miss out when Ben Stokes is deemed fit enough to return to the batting line-up after scores of only 25 and 20 so far.
Moeen Ali, who was replaced by pick of the bowlers Reece Topley (4-43) against Bangladesh, will also come back into contention should England want a different balance.
However, Nasser Hussain believes England went some way to correcting some of the mistakes with the bat from their defeat by New Zealand when they could only muster 282-9 batting first.
"They didn't take the positive approach against New Zealand, but they did do that here," Hussain said.
"The conditions were a flat pitch, short boundary, batting at altitude, but you've still got to be ruthless.
"It wasn't reckless, where you just score a pretty 40 off 30 balls and get out, it was attacking instinct with a ruthless big hundred from Malan.
"Root was also back to his best and there's still Stokes to come back in as well.
"They'll be sterner tests to come though. You don't get too down when you lose to New Zealand and you don't get too high when you beat Bangladesh."
What's next?
Live ICC Cricket World Cup
England head to Delhi for their next Cricket World Cup group match when they face Afghanistan on Sunday (9am on Sky Sports Cricket, first ball 9.30am), looking to make it two wins from three after their 137-run victory over Bangladesh.
Stream every match of the Cricket World Cup with NOW from £21 a month for six months.
