Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott produced the highest partnership in England's one-day history, surpassing the 226 that Strauss and Andrew Flintoff recorded against West Indies at Lord's in 2004, as England crushed Bangladesh by 144 runs to atone for their historic defeat in Saturday's second ODI at Bristol, and secure a record-equalling fourth consecutive series win.Strauss and Trott's second-wicket stand of 250 was complemented by a late onslaught from Ravi Bopara, who slammed 45 not out from 16 balls, and Bangladesh never came close to challenging a formidable target of 348. Their key man, Tamim Iqbal, skied an Ajmal Shahzad slower ball to mid-on in the third over, and Shahzad followed up by blasting Imrul Kayes from the crease with a fearsome gloved lifter. A pair of miscues and a comical run-out left Bangladesh floundering on 86 for 5 in the 19th over, whereupon Bopara put the seal on a spirited return to the side with 4 for 39 in 10 skiddy overs.
It was not an entirely flawless performance from England: the loss of six wickets for 46 between overs 41 and 47 once again raised concerns about the solidity of the middle order, with Luke Wright's directionless summer continuing as he flailed his way to a first-ball duck after being pushed up the order for a late slog. And the closing stages of the match meandered mercilessly, with Mahmudullah and Abdur Razzak adding 56 in 15.3 overs to haul the total up towards 200. But seeing as Strauss and Trott had already put the contest beyond doubt with the 11th highest one-day stand of all time, there was not a whole lot to quibble about.
England's second-wicket pairing left nothing to chance as they batted in tandem for exactly 40 overs of the innings. Strauss was the star performer with 154 from 140 balls, his fourth and highest ODI hundred but his first since the tour of the Caribbean in March 2009, while Trott put to one side the bitter memory of his last-over dismissal to Shafiul Islam at Bristol to improve on his career-best for the second match in succession. He made 110 from 121 balls before wellying the disciplined Mashrafe Mortaza to midwicket. Mortaza's final figures of 10-2-31-3 were outstanding, but he was the only Bangladeshi to keep a lid on England's aggression.
For that, the credit belonged to Strauss, who once again belied his self-appointed reputation as a "stodgy" opener, to blister along at a tempo rarely witnessed in England's one-day history. In all he struck 16 fours and five sixes, each of them deposited up and over the leg-side boundary, as he took personal responsibility for Saturday's setback to put England's one-day revival back on track.
It was a commanding performance against a Bangladesh team that was unable to raise its game for a second match in succession, but England still had to earn their right to the ascendancy. They lost the toss after a 45-minute rain delay, and were sent into bat in overcast conditions, and when Craig Kieswetter was bowled through the gate in Mortaza's first over for a second-ball duck, the prospect of further embarrassment could not be ruled out.
Strauss and Trott, however, responded to the setback with an initial volley of boundaries - including a brace of fours as Shafiul Islam strayed onto Trott's pads, and an agenda-setting six from Strauss as Mashrafe dropped short - before settling back into a holding pattern to ease the score along to 45 for 1 at the end of the 10-over Powerplay. Shafiul, whose crucial final wicket had sealed the Bristol victory, this time conceded a record 97 runs in nine overs. Strauss dismantled his line and length early on, before Bopara crushed him in a final over that cost 28.
Mashrafe did his best to keep England on a tight leash in an unchanged eight-over spell that yielded just 17 runs, but at the halfway mark of the innings, England were sitting pretty on 117 for 1, and perfectly placed to increase the tempo. Strauss nudged Shakib for a single to reach his hundred from 106 deliveries, before cutting loose with a bold array of improvisatory strokes, including a variation on Eoin Morgan's ambidextrous "paddywhack", and a bona fide right-hander's nurdle to third man (or rather, fine leg). He needed just 29 more deliveries to rush to his second score of 150 in ODIs - the other also came against Bangladesh, at Trent Bridge in 2005.
Trott maintained a more measured approach, as is his wont, picking off his runs with clips, drives and pulls as he capitalised on the absence of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, and built on his double-hundred in the Lord's Test back in May with another unflappable performance. In his five home appearances since August 2009, Trott has now amassed an Ashes-winning century, a Test double-century, a maiden ODI hundred and a 94 to boot. It's food for thought for those who continue to question his bottle.
