A stroke and fortune-filled century from Ben Stokes and a five-wicket haul from debutant Jake Ball drove England to a 21-run win over hosts Bangladesh in the first ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

England chose to bat first and took full advantage of a shoddy fielding display from Bangladesh to post 309 for eight. Stokes hit a 100-ball 101 with eight fours and four sixes, but was dropped on 69 and 71 by Mahmudullah Riyad and Mosharraf Hossain respectively. There was a 60 for debutant Ben Duckett too, before skipper Jos Buttler came in and hit a 38-ball 60 as England plundered 60 runs in the last five overs.

In chase, Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes hit a fabulous century, his second in ODIs, and a 118-run fifth-wicket partnership with Shakib Al Hasan had taken Bangladesh to a winning position, with 39 needed off 51 balls. But Shakib’s dismissal opened the floodgates for Bangladesh, as they lost the last six wickets for 17 runs.

The Tigers seemed set for a win after Shakib and Imurl’s stand, but after Shakib’s departure the team completely lost the plot.

Mosharraf held an end for a while, but that served only to postpone the defeat.