England flexed their muscles against Bangladesh whereas newbies Namibia won a close encounter against Scotland on day five of the T20 World Cup.

Game 8

England 126 for 2 (Roy 61, Malan 28, Shoriful 1/26) beat Bangladesh 124 for 9 (Mushfiqur 29, Mills 3/27, Livingstone 2/15) by 8 wickets.

Of the nine matches played so far in this World Cup, eight have been won by the team batting second so it was quite surprising to see the Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah elect to bat first after winning the toss in Abu Dhabi.

Apart from the first over which went for ten runs the rest of the Bangladesh innings was a struggle against a potent English attack.

Experienced batters Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah briefly tried to rebuild the innings by stitching together a partnership but once Mushfiqur was dismissed it was only Nasum Ahmed’s heroics in the nineteenth over which got Bangladesh to a disappointing 124 from their 20 overs.

For England Moeen Ali continued his good form with the ball picking up early wickets in the power play and was ably supported by the rest of the bowlers who bowled with the precision of a surgeon.

Any chances of a miraculous comeback by Bangladesh with the ball were put to bed early by Jason Roy.

Roy is a classy player who is extremely pleasing to the eye.

He has all the shots and no obvious weaknesses against the white ball.

His man of the match performance (61 of 38 balls) was studded with five fours and three huge sixes which knocked the wind out of the Bangladesh attack.

With two wins in a row pre-tournament favorites England are looking in ominous form whereas Bangladesh with two losses from as many games will find it difficult to make it to the semifinals.

Game 9

Namibia 115 for 6 (Smit 32*, Williams 23, Leask 2/12) beat Scotland 109 for 8 (Leask 44, Greaves 25, Trumpelmann 3/17, Frylinck 2-10) by 4 wickets

When Scotland were asked to bat first by Namibia they must have fancied their chances of putting on a big total on a decent Abu Dhabi surface.

But like they were caught in a web of spin in their last game against Afghanistan, this time around they were blown away by the pace and swing of Ruben Trumpelmann (man of the match) who picked up three wickets in the very first over, which is a new record in T20 internationals.

Thanks to some lusty blows by all-rounder Michael Leask Scotland managed 109 in their 20 overs which was well below par for the course.

Namibia were cautious in the run chase as they knew the importance of keeping wickets in hand.

Scotland’s left arm spinner Mark Watt who was the only one who held his head high after the Afghanistan game once again produced the goods for them with some tight bowling.

All-rounder Leask who already had delivered with the bat also put the Namibian batters under pressure and at 67 for 4 in the twelfth  over the game was definitely in the balance.

But in walked experienced JJ Smit who kept his cool and took the Namibians to victory in the last over with an unbeaten 32 of just 23 balls.

With two losses in a row Scotland’s chances of making it to the semifinals have taken a huge blow whereas with the talent on hand in their team the Namibians will be fancying their chances of challenging some of the bigger teams in their group.