Bangladesh shot out for 143 by England

Bridgetown, Barbados, Apr 11 (UNI) Bangladesh's inflated ego after upsetting South Africa was punctured today by a resurgent England as they were skittled out for a paltry 143 after being sent in to bat on a bouncy Kensington Oval wicket in a Super Eight match of the cricket World Cup here.

It was party time at Kensington Oval as the huge British fans descended to boost the sagging morale of Michael Vaughan's men -- who needed a win to stay in contention for a last four berth -- and they did not let them down as England dragged the Tigers by the scurf giving a taste of some fiery cricket on a lively wicket.

For Bangladesh, Saqibul Hasan fought a lone battle amid the ruins the English pace bowlers orchestrated. He scored a 97-ball 57 till he ran out of partners ans shared an invaluable 47-run partnership with Mashrafe Mortaza for the seventh wicket before Mortaza was foxed by Monty Panesar.

Earlier, Michael Vaughan called the coin correctly and sent Bangladesh in. His gamble of putting early pressure paid off as inexperience of Bangladesh was very much evident from the very beginning as Sajid Mahmood sent a fiery spell of fast bowling, picking up three quick wickets and Bangladesh were 26 for three within eight overs.

The pitch lived up to the expectations as Bangladeshi batsmen were at sea as the balls were flying at the chin level and they were on the back foot right from the beginning.

It was a long uphill walk since then from which they never actually recovered.

None of the Bangladeshi batsmen could adjust to the pace of the pitch, which was different from that of Guyana which was low and hardly rose above the stump level.

Sajid and James Anderson exploited the juicy pitch and soon Andrew Flintoff joined the party. Flintoff's third ball was a beautiful inswinger and did enough to remove the bail of Mushfiqur Rahman.

The 8000-strong ''Barmy's army'' had lot of extra time to have fun with songs and drinks rather than watching a lopsided affair.

The first one to go was Tamim Iqbal as he was undone by Sajid's rising delivery and Colingwood did the rest. Next was a funny dismissal when Habibul Bashar ran himself out after Vaughan floored an easy chance at cover. As Vaughan dropped, Shariar set out for a run while Bashar was helplessly watching the drop catch. By the time he picked up his composure and ran, it was all over.

Shariar survived a few more anxious moments and soon joined the procession.

With half the side back in the pavillion while the score was not even 50, signs of resignation were evident all around the Bangladesh side. Rest of the Bangladeshi batsmen played and missed against the trio of Anderson, Sajid and Flintoff.

Occasional boundaries came which were cheered more by English supporters than anyone else, as they along with a very large number of Indian fans, have literally taken over the whole of the stadium.

Vaughan went for the kill and brought back Anderson for his second spell who quickly took two wickets leaving only Saqibul Hasan to take Bangladesh from the ignominy of being bowled out for the lowest ever total of the World Cup.

By the time spinners were introduced by Vaughan in the 19th over, cheering English fans were urging Monty Panesar to wipe out the Bangladesh tail. Panesar obliged and dismissed three lower order batsmen.

UNI