England brushed aside Bangladesh thanks to a brutal display of batting which saw them reach their highest ever World Cup total, posting 386/6 off their 50 overs, a record total at the Cardiff Wales Stadium.
The man who did the most damage to the Bangladesh bowlers was Jason Roy who made 153 (121). Roy was dismissed going for a fourth consecutive six and was dismissed with more than 15 overs to go. If he had managed to keep going his own record for the highest score by an England batsman in ODIs of 180 would have been under serious threat.
The foundation for England's massive total was laid by Roy and Johnny Bairstow who put on 128 for the first wicket, the highest opening stand for England on this ground. England were watchful at first, making 15/0 off the first five overs, before they accelerated to finish with a a run rate of nearly eight an over by the end of their innings.
Jos Buttler also made a half century, finishing with 64 (44) before he was dismissed looking to push on at the death. Useful runs down the order from Chris Woakes (18 from 8) and Liam Plunkett (27 from 9) helped England pass 350 and set a total that was always out of their opponents reach.
When Bangladesh got their innings under way they were exposed to some real pace from Jofra Archer who took the wicket of Soumya Sarkar with a ball that hit the off stump and flew over the ropes on the full behind the batsman. When Tamim Iqbal fell in the 12th over Bangladesh were 63/2 and in danger of crumbling to a very low total. Shakib al Hasan had other ideas who made his way to a brilliant hundred off just 95 balls. While this was an innings of real class it wasn't enough to see his team home as they lost be 106 runs.
This article first appeared on www.cricketworldcup.com