England overcome triple injury concern to defeat Bangladesh in Champions Trophy opener

Favourites England kicked off their Champions Trophy campaign with a routine eight-wicket victory over Bangladesh courtesy of Joe Root's 10th one-day century at The Oval. The Tigers set the hosts a tournament record 306 to win after Tamim Iqbal's sublimely paced 128, but Alex Hales [95] and Root [133 not out] put on 159 for the second wicket to build the foundations for a easy opening victory.

Yet despite putting one foot in the semi-final ahead of the final two group games against New Zealand and Australia, a series of injury problems worked to partly overshadow the result. Chris Woakes suffered a side strain just two overs into his spell, Root hobbled through much of his highest one-day score with a twisted ankle while Ben Stokes bowled just seven overs as he continues to be hindered by a knee injury.

Having surged into the world's top eight and beaten England in four of their last seven meetings, Bangladesh were eager to underline their improvement in their first appearance in the competition since 2006. Similarly, England had a point to prove in a global competition having enjoyed a fine revival since being dumped out of the 50-over World Cup by Bangladesh in March 2015.

The momentum at least initially appeared to be with Bangladesh, ranked number six in the ICC ODI standings, with Woakes going off with a potentially-tournament ending injury before Soumya Sarker was dropped by Moeen Ali off Jake Ball on 11.

Soumya [28] did eventually succumb with an ungainly stroke to find substitute Jonny Bairstow in the deep. And when Imrul Kayes [19] was brilliantly caught by Chris Wood off Liam Plunkett, England were firmly in charge.

But Tamim had other ideas, punishing a lacklustre and depleted England attack - in particular a wayward Ball - all sides of a sun-decked Oval outfield. The manner in which the Bangladesh opener danced down the wicket to smash Ali over the fence confirmed the position of comfort his side were enjoying, with Mushfiqur Rahim progressing nicely at the other end.

Against the backdrop of Tamim's innings, which accelerated after he passed 50, was regular confrontations with Stokes - a repeat of the pair's clash during the one-day game in Dhaka last October. The opener would have the last laugh, going onto secure his ninth century as Bangladesh closed in their first score of over 300 against England.

The loss of Tamim and then Mushfiqur [79] to lazy drives off Plunkett ended any ambitions of a healthy first innings score and instead thanks to a cameo from Sabbir Rahman [24], the visitors finished with 305 for 6. It gave the droves of travelling fans hope they could stage another upset against Trevor Bayliss' side, yet those ambitions were short-lived.

Jason Roy's wretched run of form continued as a paddle sweep from just his eighth ball landed in the hands of Mustafizur Rahman, for just one. The magnitude of the Surrey's man error was highlighted further by the success of Hales and Root who without alarm readdressed the balance.

Hales was rarely forced to go aerial in pursuit of his sixth half century, while Root nurdled his way to the same milestone with ease. The only scare came when Root, at the time on 61, pulled into the leg side but turned on his left ankle in the process. Unable to call upon a runner the Yorkshireman hobbled on, though he could now be considered a doubt for the second game against New Zealand in Cardiff on Tuesday [6 June].

The only thing that could disrupt England's dominance was complacency and it was just that which denied Hales three figures as he pulled the ball into the deep and found Rahman for 95 - ending a stand for the second wicket of 159. Eoin Morgan almost followed but a video replay showed his shot down the ground hit the floor in the process of being grasped by Tamim.

There were no such problems for Root who limped to his century as any remaining Bangladesh hope was firmly extinguished. Morgan [75 not out] put the gloss on the performance with a half century of his own - illuminated by a stunning six over mid-on - as the duo put on 143 for the third wicket to guide the hosts to victory with 17 balls to spare.