Buttler Moeen Star in England XIs Hard Fought Victory

Imrul Kayes (121) lit up the Fatullah stadium with his display of clean hitting, but his enterprise with the willow went in vain as England XI chased down the sizeable target of 310 in the 47th over against Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Select XI in the warm-up game played on Tuesday (October 4).

For the visitors, Jos Buttler, the captain of the side, hustled his way to a 64-ball 80 and allied with Moeen Ali (70) to share a stand of 139 for the sixth wicket to secure England XI's victory by a four wicket margin. With just a single run needed to overcome the hosts, Sunzamul Islam, the slow left-arm orthodox bowler, prised out Moeen, but the England captain cracked a boundary in the next over to provide the finishing touches.

Earlier, it was Jason Roy (28) and James Vince (48) who struck hefty blows in the arc between mid-on and midwicket to get the visitors off to a flier. However, Roy tried one shot too many and fell to Ebadat Hossain.

With a stable base, sprinkled by dollops of timing, Vince continued to check in boundaries. It was Ebadat who elicited an outside edge off Vince's bat, with Nurul Hasan safely pouching the catch behind the stumps to end his stay at the crease. Incidentally, Ebadat, the 22-year-old pacer from Sylhet, has played just one first-class game.

Ben Duckett (29) and Ben Stokes (28) chipped in with handy knocks, but both were dismissed at crucial junctures of the match. At 170 for 5 in the 29th over, the door was left wide open for the BCB XI to chart a comeback. However, Buttler and Moeen combined power and placement in equal measure to seal the game for the tourists.

Buttler's stroke-filled fifty consisted of three boundaries and fours sixes, while Moeen cracked eight fours and hoisted a couple of shots into the stands. Ebadat was the most successful bowler for the home side, but curiously, he only bowled five overs.

At the start of the day, Kayes's combative century provided the BCB XI the impetus in the powerplay. Kayes was handsomely rewarded for playing with a fair amount of bravado against the English pacers. He alternated between shifting his weight back or forward to latch onto anything that was slightly short or fuller in length.

The southpaw opener also joined forces with Nazmul Hossain Shanto (36) to string together a valuable stand of 85 for the second wicket. After raising a well-deserved century, he upped the tempo by thumping David Willey for two sixes in the 29th over. However, the Yorkshire pacer had the last laugh when he castled Kayes in the same over to lift England XI's spirits.

Mushfiqur Rahim (51) blended style and substance to essay a useful fifty. However, Woakes, Stokes and Willey made key incisions to restrict the hosts to 309 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs. In fact, BCB XI could only muster 49 runs in their last 10 overs.

In the end, BCB XI's spirited effort didn't prove to be enough as the tourists overhauled the target.

England's think-tank would be pleased with the workout. Vince and Duckett, who made a remarkable comeback during this County season after he was consigned to playing for second XI last year, looked in fine touch. Buttler and Moeen were among the runs, while the pacers bowled with good control in the slog overs. England, though, would be slightly worried with the fact that Adil Rashid and Moeen combined to give away 117 runs in 17 overs and took just one wicket.

The visitors will play the first of the three One-Day Internationals against the hosts on October 7 in Dhaka.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh Cricket Board Select XI 309/9 in 50 overs (Imrul Kayes 121, Mushfiqur Rahim 51; Chris Woakes 3-52) lost to England XI 313/6 in 46.1 overs (Jos Buttler 80*, Moeen Ali 70; Ebadat Hossain 2-26) by 4 wickets.