Jason Roy was adjudged as Man of the Match
Jason Roy smashed a 121-ball 153 — the biggest individual score of the World Cup so far — to help England to a tournament-high 386-6, setting up a 106-run victory over Bangladesh on a blustery day in Cardiff. Bangladesh needed a World Cup-record chase but were restricted to 280 all out in its reply, with Shakib Al Hasan's 121 in vain.
Roy was rampant as his knock covered most of the ground, but he nearly knocked out umpire Joel Wilson during a run between the wickets. The collision saw the West Indies official take a concussion test in the middle.
Along with Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler contributed with their respective fifties to help England amass 386/6 on the board.
"He scores all the way round the ground, he takes really good bowlers down, and hits good balls for boundaries," England captain Eoin Morgan said about Roy in the post-match presentation ceremony. "He's great to have in the side."
"The two boys at the top (openers) laid a solid platform as Jason (Roy) managed to get a significant score. It's great to see. He's very intimidating to play against and the impact he has against oppositions is significant. With Jos Buttler coming in and Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett - all of them contributed," Morgan added.
It was quite the way for England to bounce back from a loss to Pakistan that had heaped some early pressure on the host nation and top-ranked team. Morgan urged his players to "stick to what we do well" and they carried out that order.
England posted its highest total at a World Cup and blasted 14 sixes, one of them from Jos Buttler (64 off 44 balls) clearing the stadium, going through the trees and landing somewhere near the River Taff running parallel to Sophia Gardens.
Another from Roy, the first of three in a row, soared 97 meters over the longest boundary.
This was Roy's day, though. He made the second-highest World Cup score by an England batsman, falling just short of Andrew Strauss' 158 against India in 2011, in eye-catching style. One of his 14 fours came following a misfield in the deep by Mohammad Mithun and it allowed Roy to reach three figures for the ninth time in ODIs.
England will next take on West Indies on June 14 at the Rose Bowl, Southampton.
(With AP)
