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The man whose final, decisive act in the drama will be indelibly linked to England’s first World Cup victory over 50 looks destined to be part of their title defense this autumn after a breakthrough of a hundred on the subcontinent.
Jason Roy’s playful 132 was the 12 of his international career but, significantly, the first in this part of Asia and they faced opponents previously unbeaten in more than six years at home.
Similar challenges await at the Indian border in October, although not all teams are as adept at exploiting such conditions. Bangladesh had not lost a two-sided series on home soil since the winter of 2016-17, when a Jos Buttler-led England won here, but history repeated itself.
The man with the pitch that settled the 2019 Lord’s masterpiece by a slim margin, Roy has truly left behind the patchy showings that jeopardized his future.
This was his second triple-figure contribution in five England appearances in 2023, after going 14 innings without reaching 50, and he surpassed his effort in Bloemfontein due to circumstances.
Jason Roy looked to be back in his prime as he crushed his 12th one day international hundred.
Jos Buttler produced some big banging after Roy was sacked as England posted a grand total
A sign of the difficulties presented by a tacky pitch was revealed in the plight of others. While Roy and Buttler made their careers better than a run for the ball, sharing a standing of 109 in 15.3 overs, the other four members of the top six combined for 24 for 54.
Roy said: ‘A few hundreds in the past, I got to 40 and felt really fluid, but every run, every limit I scored was a bit of a scrap.
“I have been working, staying focused and keeping my head down, ignoring a lot of the smoke that has been around. I am my biggest critic. I know I haven’t been at my best but I’ve been playing decent cricket and hitting the ball well so I felt it was just a matter of time.
“South Africa has obviously taken a huge weight off my shoulders, but coming here and using a completely different skill set was very nice.”
While Roy sat third in England’s ODI centurion list, Adil Rashid held the same position among wicket-takers, his four for 45, lifting him above Stuart Broad’s 178 casualties.
Rashid spent several hours the previous day under intense cross-examination by video link, as a witness in ECB discredit charges against several former Yorkshire team-mates, but showed his mental toughness to help plunge Bangladesh to a 132-run defeat .
Thanks mainly to a swing masterclass from Sam Curran (he bowled the new ball with Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes rested), the hosts were already four wickets down when Rashid came on the attack.
The home fans were given a fleeting hope when Shakib Al Hasan, celebrating his 400th appearance at half a century, and Tamim Iqbal put their personal dispute behind them to put a tourniquet around early bleeding.
But the required rate was already at eight when they split and Afif Hossain’s death to Rashid left Bangladesh 160 for six, and supporters who saw India humiliated here last December ran for the exits.
Sam Curran shone with the new ball and finished with four wickets in the match
Adil Rashid also took four wickets on a spin bowl as England sealed a comfortable victory.
Buttler’s side can be confident of a series win on the subcontinent ahead of the World Cup later this year.
After being inserted, the England scoreline moved slowly unless Roy was at strike, but even he recognized virtue in the template used by Wednesday’s centurion Dawid Malan.
Like Malan, he initially struggled against the spinners, but recognizing the value of sweeping, he overcame such difficulties to reach 50 for 54 balls.
Roy had struck nine of the innings’ 10 fours when Buttler announced himself with a reverse sweep to Taijul Islam’s rope, and the fourth-wicket pairing developed such momentum that the score of 30 out of 157 for three was more than doubled, and 107 came from the last 10 overs.
Roy’s rampage of six fours in a flurry of 11 deliveries preceded a tiring jab at Shakib and although Buttler was caught brilliantly by Mehidy Hasan Miraz on his follow-on 76, Curran and Moeen Ali continued the charge to lead England to a unassailable position in the series, which concludes on Monday.