England flex their muscle in thumping World Cup win

England have taken a step toward the T20 World Cup semi-finals with their second straight win, an eight-wicket romp against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi.

Spinner Moeen Ali (2-18) struck in the Powerplay and Tymal Mills (3-27) dominated the death overs to restrict Bangladesh to 9-124 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Opener Jason Roy then hit 61 off 38 balls as England, bidding to become the first team to hold the 50-over and 20-over World Cups at the same time, chased down the target with 5.5 overs to spare to maintain top spot in their six-team group.

Dawid Malan was not out 28 with Jonny Bairstow unbeaten on eight as England cruised to 2-126.

"The bowlers have started the tournament exceptionally well," England captain Eoin Morgan said.

"And it's nice for Roy and Dawid to get some time at the wicket. The way Jason plays is so imposing.

"When you play like that on a really slow wicket, it's difficult to set fields."

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat on a deck their skipper Mahmudullah described as a "belter", but he was soon left to rue that decision as England dominated the Powerplay, reducing Bangladesh to 3-27 after the first six overs.

Moeen has enjoyed operating with the new ball in recent times and the off-spinner once again was in the thick of things, removing both the openers in the third over.

Liton Das offered a top edge at backward square leg and Mohammad Naim sent the next ball straight to mid-on, but Bangladesh's Powerplay woes were not over yet.

Adil Rashid took a tumbling catch running backwards at short fine leg to dismiss talismanic allrounder Shakib Al Hasan for four.

Mushfiqur Rahim made a run-a-ball 29 before trying to reverse-sweep Liam Livingstone and getting trapped LBW.

Bangladesh had to wait until the penultimate over for their first six in their innings when Nasum Ahmed smashed a couple against Rashid.

England began their chase briskly to snuff out any prospects of an upset in the first ever 20-over contest between the sides.

Jos Buttler fell for 18 but Roy killed off the contest with his whirlwind knock that included three sixes.

"We were disappointed with the batting," Mahmudullah. "It was a good wicket, but we didn't start well and didn't have any partnerships in the middle either."

England face Ashes rivals Australia in their next match on Saturday, while Bangladesh takes on the West Indies on Friday.

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

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How the teams are grouped

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia

Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman

Super 12s

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia