Morgan onslaught saves the day

Eoin Morgan becomes the only man to score one-day centuries for two countries as he leads England to a narrow win over Bangladesh.

DHAKA // Eoin Morgan became the only man to score one-day centuries for two countries as he led England to a narrow win over Bangladesh yesterday, giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match one-day series. The tourists had looked on course for a first defeat to the Asian nation as they stumbled while chasing the target of 261 set by the home side.

Bangladesh had apparently bowled themselves into a winning position as they sought a full set of scalps among the Test-playing nations, but Morgan, who has previously represented Ireland, made a masterful 110 not out, smashed 16 off the second-last over to guide England over the line by two wickets. The Dublin-born batsman did not even celebrate his hundred, only betraying emotion after sealing victory with a mighty six off Shafiul Islam. A raucous home crowd were stunned into silence by Morgan's heroics after it seemed the excellent Shakib al Hasan had bowled them to the point of triumph.

Alastair Cook, the England captain, won the toss and chose to field, with the hosts' testing score of 260 for six being built around half-centuries from Imrul Kayes (63) and the wicketkeeper Musfiqur Rahim (76). England fielded a two-strong spin attack after James Tredwell was handed a debut in place of the injured Ryan Sidebottom, who will not play in Friday's final one-dayer. But it was the seamer Tim Bresnan, with three for 52, who led the way.

Shakib, the Bangladesh captain, felt his side had been on course for victory. "I thought we batted really well, Morgan played well and used the conditions well but I'm happy with the way the boys played," he said. "When they [England] lost the eighth wicket we thought it was our best chance to win, but Morgan stood tall and batted well. We just need to step up and win some games - maybe on Friday."

Cook paid tribute to the calm batting of Morgan, whose century masked low scores from the top-order batsmen Craig Kieswetter (4), Kevin Pietersen (18) and Paul Collingwood (7). "It got a bit close, but it was a fantastic knock from Eoin Morgan, he was calm under pressure and dominated during the power play," Cook said. "I was disappointed to get out when I did - 60s don't win games, hundreds win games as we saw."

Bangladesh T Iqbal c Cook b Broad 30 I Kayes c Collingwood b Swann 63 A Ahmed b Bresnan 4 M Rahim c Wright b Bresnan 76 Shakib c & b Swann 14 Mahmudullah b Bresnan 27 Naeem not out 18 S Shuvo not out 14 Extras 7w, 4b, 3lb 14 Total (6 wkt; 50 overs) 260 Fall of wickets: 1-46; 2-56; 3-146; 4-166; 5-211; 6-235 Bowling: Bresnan 10-0-51-3; Broad 6-0-34-1; Swann 10-0-52-2; Wright 9-0-38-0; Tredwell 10-0-52-0; Collingwood 5-0-26-0 England A Cook c Rahim b Shakib 60 C Kieswetter c Kayes b Shafiul 4 K Pietersen lbw b Razzak 18 P Collingwood lbw b Razzak 7 E Morgan not out 110 M Prior lbw b Razzak 42 L Wright b Shakib 7 T Bresnan lbw b Mahmudullah 0 G Swann b Shakib 2 J Tredwell not out 2 Extras 2w, 4b, 3lbb 9 Total (8 wkt; 48.5 overs) 261 Fall of wickets: 1-5; 2-52; 3-68; 4-108; 5-198; 6-223; 7-224; 8-229 Bowling: Shafiul 6.5-0-55-1; Hossain 6-0-30-0; Razzak 10-0-52-3; Naeem 6-0-41-0; Shakib 10-2-32-3; Mahmudullah 7-0-30-1; Shuvo 3-0-14-0 * PA Sport