RESULT England have beaten Bangladesh by four wickets

England have kept alive their hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals, but their performance with the bat today will convince few that they will achieve that. Chasing a moderate 144, they played nervously against a mediocre Bangladesh bowling attack, losing six wickets and requiring almost 45 overs to reach their target. Times Online, meanwhile, applied a wholly unscientific analysis of Michael Vaughan's captaincy and found that, contrary to reports, it is not quite good enough to alone justify his selection. We also revealed the mood among London's Bangladesh community with a similarly random poll that produced mostly inaccurate predictions as to the outcome of today's match. Join us again tomorrow for more of the same.

England 147-6 (Collingwood 23 Nixon 20) Overs: 44.5 Target: 144
Four byes, and a hooked four from Nixon. That's the victory. Relief for England, but little pride. "It's a win, but it's not a convincing win," concludes Botham, fairly.

England 138-6 (Collingwood 22 Nixon 16) Overs: 44 Target: 144
Hold the updates! England have scored a run! Nixon managed it, having failed with two attempts at reverse sweeps, he then pushes for a single before adding some more welcome drama by almost running out his partner. Collingwood then risks maing the closing moments comfortable for England by pushing for another single.

England 136-6 (Collingwood 21 Nixon 15) Overs: 43 Target: 144
Two more overs, two maidens. England's run rate is declining rapidly, their confidence surely with it. They need eight from 42 balls. Even an Nixon blood-pressure booster would be welcome now.

England 136-6 (Collingwood 21 Nixon 15) Overs: 41 Target: 144
Bashar recalls the quickie Mortaza to the attack. Bowing to a nervous-looking Collingwood, he returns a maiden. "It gets worse," sighs Botham, pining to escape the commentary cove so he can download our new World Cup podcast, which is now live and features - perhaps I mentioned it - an exclusive interview with Sir Garfield Sobers.

England 136-6 (Collingwood 21 Nixon 15) Overs: 40 Target: 144
Sloppy fielding, poor batting against mediocre bowling and - we hardly need tell - unconvincing captaincy: England may win this game but the display is arguably their worst of the World Cup. As Botham says: "Watching this performance today has possibly been the most disappointing of the World Cup from England's point of view. I don't know what's going on." Nixon lifts spirits a little with a clubbed six over the batsman's head. Bangladesh then have a catch appeal refused by the third umpire. Eight needed to win.

England 128-6 (Collingwood 20 Nixon 8) Overs: 39 Target: 144
Collingwood skies a delivery from Rafique to mid-on, but it drops slowly wide of the pursuant fielder. He then refuses a single and almost has Nixon run out, an eventuality that he was possibly hoping to bring about. Two leg byes leave England needing 16 to win.

England 123-6 (Collingwood 20 Nixon 6) Overs: 37 Target: 144
What shot did Nixon just attempt twice? Yup, two profoundly inappropriate reverse sweeps help to reduce the target to 21 and to keep TO's blood pressure to about quadruple that figure. The first trickled past fine leg, the second bottom-edged through the onside. Both looked even worse than they sound.

England 118-6 (Collingwood 15 Nixon 1) Overs: 36 Target: 144
Zain will be content to hear that Liverpool have reached half-time scoreless against PSV Eindhoven, thus preserving the 3-0 lead they carried from the first leg. Bangladesh have just offered Nixon several deliveries prime for his favoured reverse sweep but he resists the bait, thankfully. Twenty-six to win, four wickets remaining.

England 114-6 (Collingwood 15 Nixon 1) Overs: 35 Target: 144
Nixon hits a single from Rafique, Collingwood runs two and then produces three deeply satisfying defensive shots. England need 30 to win.

England 111-6 (Collingwood 13 Nixon 0) Overs: 32 Target: 144
In the air! Wholly unimpressed by the presence of a man at short leg, Nixon gently clips Hasan in that direction and is lucky to survive - the ball dropped beyond the fielder's reach. He then leaves a spinning delivery in a spirit terrifyingly beyond confident. England need something immeasurably more orthodox than what Nixon brings to an innings.

WICKET! Bopara b Rafique 0
Bopara attempts a backward defensive and plays on to his stumps. England are 110-6. Second wicket from a maiden over. At 111-6, England are back in trouble. Vaughan watch: he's on the balcony, staring stony-faced at a laptop screen, doubtless to catch up on TO's analysis of his day.

WICKET! Flintoff b Rafique 23
Twenty balls faced, Flintoff succumbs trying to slog a peach of an arm-ball from Rafique. England are 110-5.

England 107-4 (Collingwood 10 Flintoff 21) Overs: 30 Target: 144
Zain Ahmed, the Liverpool-supporting estate agent, asked to use this forum to plug the flash penthouse he's trying to flog on the edge of the city. High on gee and lassies, TO was happy to accommodate: he wants around half a million, apparently. Freddie hits a straight six, leaving England needing 37 to win. The threat of a defeat is subsiding.

England 86-4 (Collingwood 7 Flintoff 6) Overs: 27 Target: 144
Facing the new bowler Hasan, Flintoff drives past mid-off and runs hard to earn a single. The Bangladeshi spinner then finds some serious turn - the first bowler to do so today - and beats Collingwood's unconvincing cut shot. The England man then pads three, before missing a delivery drifting down leg. Just a single from the six. For the moment, the momentum is with Bangladesh. "They need to get Andrew Flintoff out early if they are to have any hope of winning this match," reckons Athers.

England 85-4 (Collingwood 7 Flintoff 5) Overs: 26 Target: 144
Another six dot balls from Rafique, one of which forced Collingwood to collapse to the floor attempting a gentle cut.

England 85-4 (Collingwood 7 Flintoff 5) Overs: 25 Target: 144
Flintoff defends six slow balls from Rafique. England need 59 to win with six wickets standing. Having smugly dismissed everything that our friends on Brick Lane said this morning, TO now fears Bangladesh could yet realise those predictions. Certainly, England's tail has folded more dramatically than the curry houses of the East End need it to this evening.

WICKET! Pietersen c sub (Farhad) b Rassak 1
Defeated by another excellent quick delivery from the spinner Rassak, Pietersen lifts an easy catch to short mid-wicket. England are 79-4. They aren't going to throw this away, are they?

England 70-3 (Pietersen 10 Collingwood 4) Overs: 22.5 Target: 144
Rassak almost beats Collingwood with his excellent quicker ball - he clocked 64mph with no obvious adjustment to his action, an inside edge saving the England batsman. Collingwood responds by launching a four over mid-on.

England 70-3 (Pietersen 10 Collingwood 0) Overs: 22 Target: 144
Pietersen mis-hits an attempted sweep, running a single. Collingwood gets the same reward with a clip through the onside. England need 70 to win.

WICKET! Vaughan c Bashar b Razzak 30
Bending those suffering knees, Vaughan top-edges a hook to leg gully. "You could sense he was starting to tire," says Hussain, with a fair assessment, given that our protagonist had sailed a full four runs past his one-day average.

England 61-2 (Vaughan 24 Pietersen 4) Overs: 19 Target: 144
The result may look decided but England must still look to improve their run rate. Before today, their rate was 0.14 less than South Africa's. If England beat South Africa, they will need to turn that deficit into a surplus if they are to then qualify for the semi-finals. Currently, they progressing at a little over three runs an over. Hopefully, Pietersen will crank that up shortly. Three from the over.

England 58-2 (Vaughan 21 Pietersen 3) Overs: 18 Target: 144
Vaughan sprints a single from a gentle offside push. England have now faced more than 30 deliveries since their last boundary, a fact that makes it less regrettable that TO missed the last 24 deliveries due to a technical hitch. Apologies.

England 48-2 (Vaughan 15 Pietersen 0) Overs: 14 Target: 144
Maiden wicket-over from Rasel, a small success that will please Mukty Mahmud, a one-time all-rounder currently employed at The Monsoon curry house at 78 Brick Lane. Once of the Dakar side Junior Brothers, Mukty is a rare fan of England's captain.
"Every great player goes through a period of playing poorly: Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, but they come back and England must allow Michael Vaughan to do that," he said, before sweetening your correspondent with a highly palatable ginger-spiced lamb dish.

WICKET! Strauss lbw Rasel 23
Strauss tries to turn a delivery through mid-wicket when it demanded a drive to mid-on. "He's got out that way before," sighs Nasser Hussain. "Sides have worked out Andrew Strauss, especially in one-day cricket. They play it full and straight."

England 48-1 (Vaughan 15 Strauss 23) Overs: 13 Target: 144
Vaughan watch: Facing Rassak, Vaughan glides a quicker delivery from the spinner to the third man boundary. Hmm, a good shot. There, said it. His next isn't, though, a mistimed clip that almost has him out leg-before. England need 96 to win.

England 43-1 (Vaughan 10 Strauss 22) Overs: 12 Target: 144
Strauss plays across a sharp outswinger from Rasel, sending a nick to the gap at the slips that brings a single. An excellent over from the Bangladesh medium-pacer, costing only two runs. Richard Hobson has filed again:

With the steel band and a few conch shells and a disco I was starting to feel the Caribbean flavour today. Then up piped the man known as Jimmy Saville to lead the Barmy Army in one of their singalongs. Billy Cooper, the trumpeter, is also in the ground, a bit more tunefully. Paul Burnham, one of the chief barmies, told me in St Lucia that a lot of supporters were waiting to see how England progressed before deciding whether to come to Barbados. Seems that a hardcore have decided to come anyway.

England 41-1 (Vaughan 10 Strauss 17) Overs: 11 Target: 144
The TO OBO department is not working alone this evening. Tim Meston will shortly assume position to provide his rolling report on Liverpool's Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven. Strauss hits another drive to the boundary, perfectly timed in its application to the ball, less so in its coincidence with the moment TO switched channels. We caught his next four, though, a classic square cut off the back foot. England need 103 to win.

England 29-1 (Vaughan 9 Strauss 10) Overs: 8 Target: 144
Strauss clips a straight delivery from Mortaza off his legs to the square leg boundary. Ashraful then stops a second boundary with a brilliant dive to the extra cover boundary. Vaughan watch: he fails with an attempted cut on a poor delivery that drifts well outside offstump. Again, this reveals little about Vaughan's leadership, but exhuming our frustrations with his batting has become oddly satisfying.

England 22-1 (Vaughan 9 Strauss 3) Overs: 7 Target: 144
A misfield from Ahmed hands Strauss an undeserved two runs. The superb new Times Online cricket World Cup podcast will be live very shortly. This week's episode features an exclusive interview with Sir Garfield Sobers plus analyses from The Times's cricket writers. Their number will include Patrick Kidd, who has just posted a new entry to his inimitable weblog.

LUNCH

England 15-1 (Vaughan 5 Strauss 1) Overs: 6 Target: 144
Vaughan watch: dropped! Rahim, the wicket-keeper drops a fine edge. Could that prove the moment of luck he needs. Not likely. He survives a huge lbw appeal next ball, before finally relieving the tension with a four struck through midwicket. Lunch.

England 15-1 (Vaughan 5 Strauss 1) Overs: 5 Target: 144
Vaughan watch: Rasel has a pretty good lbw appeal rejected. Admittedly, the incident sheds no further light on Vaughan's leadership skills but that was such a poor shot that it demanded mention. Hawk-eye reckons the delivery would have removed leg stump. Perhaps unwisely, he then runs a single to retain the strike and to keep our sights fixed.

England 8-1 (Vaughan 0 Strauss 1) Overs: 4 Target: 144
A lack of pace beat Bell, who caught the ball late. Perhaps our interviewees were right to be hopeful. If Bangladesh can make another couple of breakthroughs early on, they could yet save this game, given the ability their spinners have to finish off an innings.

WICKET! Bell c Ahmed b Rasel 0
Dropping his bottom hand, Bell slices a drive against the left-hander Rased and Ahmed picks it up diving forward. England are 7-1.

England 7-0 (Bell 0 Vaughan 0) Overs: 3 Target: 144
Stirred by a rather challenging missive from James Jackson, Patrick Burke writes: "Well, try to not look too downhearted, James. Once England get knocked out at this stage - which is looking decidely likely - my guess is Vaughan will no longer be captain, so his previous "heroics" will be forgotten." Three byes from Mortaza who, incidentally, was the leading wicket-taker in one-day cricket last year, removing 49 batsmen in 27 matches.

England 4-0 (Bell 0 Vaughan 0) Overs: 2 Target: 144
Vaughan watch: "Captain cock-up," concluded Sky's Charles Colville, applying a moniker inspired by that early dropped catch. Maiden from Rasel. "How long do you give a man to come good?" asks Athers, stirring the debate further. What do you think? Email sport@timesonline.co.uk

England 4-0 (Bell 0 Vaughan 0) Overs: 1 Target: 144
A good first over from Mashrafe, finding swing that will give Bangladesh some hope. Bell punishes the only stray delivery, helping it to the third man boundary. Richard Hobson, The Times correspondent at the ground, writes:

On Easter Monday the Kensington Oval hosted a thanksgiving service for all denominations. It was called Jesus Christ 2007 not out. Well batted. Although coming to worship, patrons were still subjected to the same bag searches and security scans that apply to matches. According to the local organising committee, this is is because the stadium is presently under control of the ICC. Presumably the rules of ambush marketing must have applied.

END OF INNINGS Bangladesh 143 all out from 37.2 overs
A good performance in the field from England. Batting first on a hard track, their bowlers capitalised on Bangladesh's vulnerability against short and fast bowling, with Saj Mahmood and James Anderson taking three and two wickets respectively. Meanwhile, TO closely scrutinised a decent tactical performance from Michael Vaughan and published results from of its poll of London's slightly overconfident Bangladesh community. Join us again shortly for the run chase.

WICKET! Rasel c Flintoff b Mahmood 4
Mahmood fires another delivery in short of a length and tempts the No 11 into edging an easy catch to second slip. That's the final Bangladesh wicket.

WICKET! Rassak b Collingwood b Panesar 15
Trying to slog Monty over midwicket, Rassak manages only to send the ball high to the fielder positioned there. Bangladesh appear intent on attacking the England's spinner and the tactic is failing. Monty has 3-25.

Bangladesh 137-8 (Sakib 54 Rassak 15) Overs: 36
. . . "only joking." Vaughan watch: he has only four fielders inside the circle, allowing Bangladesh to push singles. The aim, presumably is to keep the strike rotating, but it's allowing Bangladesh to keep the score edging towards 150. Paul Nixon, meanwhile, has chosen to stand up to the wicket, a position that left him unable to stop Rassak's edge to slip from the final ball of that over from Collingwood.

Bangladesh 131-8 (Sakib 52 Rassak 11) Overs: 35
Rassak clubs Monty for another four, before Sakib runs two. Freddie, it seems, is a sometime patron of Brick Lane. "I met him in a place around the corner," said a colleague of Zain's at Olympia Properties & Finance. Really? England's paragon of good living was found on a street famously lined with artery-clogging establishments? Presumably he was sober, though. "No, he was off his head," said Zain's buddy, adding . . .

Bangladesh 121-8 (Sakib 50 Rassak 4) Overs: 33
Zain Ahmed, a natty suited estate agent based on Brick Lane, is another fan of Andrew Flintoff. "He is a national hero. People should lay off him. He's a young man and we all make mistakes. Plus, a few of my mates know him and say he's a decent bloke." Zain predicted a Bangladesh victory today. Would he watch the conclusion this evening? "Hmm, not sure, Liverpool are on the telly." Collingwood makes a brilliant stop in the field, before Rassak drives through the offside for a boundary and Sakib reaches his half-century.

WICKET! Rafique c Strauss b Panesar 0
Monty strikes again. Deceived by the flight of the delivery, Rafique skies the ball to mid-off. "This is a crucial spell for Monty Panesar," reckons Hussain.

Bangladesh 113-7 (Sakib 46 Rafique 0) Overs: 30
Rafiquw, the Bangladesh veteran, survives a couple of deliveries from Mahmood, while Sakib takes a single. James Jackson writes: "Patrick, my misguided colleague - your lack of cricket knowledge prior to 2005 comes to the fore. Michael Vaughan is a great captain - something he has proved time and time again, not only in the Ashes of 2005 but in just about everything he has done since taking over from Nasser - remember our first win in the Windies in 30 years under Michael Vaughan? Not all leaders run through walls or shout the loudest, Vaughan's England and Flintoff's England are poles apart and I know which one is better - and there isn't a bigger character than Freddie."

WICKET! Mortaza b Panesar 13
One to relay via the Vaughan watch: the captain removes the fielder at deep-square leg, hoping to tempt the batsman into a slog. Monty provides the required bait with a full-length delivery, and beats the swinging bat with a delivery that keeps low. "Good captaincy," reckons Nasser Hussain.

Bangladesh 109-6 (Sakib 45 Mortaza 11) Overs: 28
Monty returns to the attack, playing quite possibly for his place in the side. Though he has not taken much punishment, England's best spinner has removed only four batsmen in the tournament to date.

Bangladesh 107-6 (Sakib 44 Mortaza 9) Overs: 27
Sakib rolls his wrists and turns a delivery from Bopara drifting down to leg for four, moving Bangladesh past 100. Patrick has mailed again: "Okay, Ansar, let's not drop the captain, let's get knocked out of the World Cup instead!" Ouch. Would sacking Vaughan really keep us in the competition, though? Whatever, Patrick continues: "England are obviously looking favourites, but let's put this into context. Bangladesh were not expecting to be in the Super 8's, this is a game that England should win - South Africa would have thought the same, but they already had vital points on the board. That's the difference!"

Bangladesh 97-6 (Sakib 38 Mortaza 8) Overs: 25
James Jackson says: "Stu Leece is right. The management made it impossible to drop Vaughan by dropping the only credible candidate prior to the tournament i.e. Strauss, and although we have progressed from the age of putting the poshest player in charge, I think he did a very good job last summer and he was my Ashes choice as captain - Freddie, much like Beefy, is a leader of men but not a captain." Sakib hits Collingwood for two. The Bangladesh No 5 has played well in a difficult situation. Mortaza looks relatively solid, too, particularly against the slower paced bowlers.

Bangladesh 93-6 (Sakib 36 Mortaza 6) Overs: 24
That fighting talk from Ansar may have prompted the following from Patrick: "Granted, there maybe not too much competition, but you need someone that talks to the players and has charisma. I'm afraid to say Vaughan lacks in both catagories, I think it's the curse of the captain." Joining the attack, Bopara has an lbw appeal rejected, presumably because it pitched outside leg. Still, a solid over of medium-pace swing from the Essex tyro.

Bangladesh 91-6 (Sakib 35 Mortaza 5) Overs: 23
Ansar Ali writes: "It's always interesting veiwing when the minnows make the so-called better sides sweat a little but I don't think the Bengal Tigers have roared today! Also, what's Paddy Burke on about? You can't drop your captain in the middle of a World Cup because he's not performing! It looks like a walk in the park for England today, Mahmood has come good for them again." So, too, has Anderson, conceding only a single from that over.

Bangladesh 90-6 (Sakib 35 Mortaza 4) Overs: 22
Sakib drives Flintoff elegantly through the covers, running two despite a poor throw from Anderson retrieving on the boundary. "Should have got three," reckons Botham, strugging for incident to comment on.

"Where have you managed to park your yacht?" says Athers, suffering the same problem.

"Moor is the word," replies Botham.

"I wouldn't know. How to did you get down to Bridgetown this morning?

"On the tender, nice way to come to work." Perhaps, but not as nice as via curry houses offering passing hacks free samples of their fare, though.

Bangladesh 86-6 (Sakib 35 Mortaza 1) Overs: 21
Vaughan watch: a banner in the crowd reads: "Hey, Vaughan lend us your bat for beach cricket . . . you're not using it." "Harsh but fair," observes Athers. England complete their third power play.

Bangladesh 86-6 (Sakib 35 Mortaza 1) Overs: 20
Vaughan watch: strange fielding positions have moved Mike Atherton to contribute to the debate. "Flintoff and Vaughan don't seem to have their communications right. England have got a little bit too clever bowling to Sakib," he says, arguing a point supported by a straight drive through the hard-to-explain gap at mid-on. Ms Chawdhury, who had vox-pop previous, said: "I remember talking to the BBC Asian Network about this. Bangladesh are so unpredictable. They played really well against India and then poorly against the West Indies, and then brilliantly against South Africa. So, perhaps they'll play poorly today. Compared to England, they are still very young and inexperienced. If I had money, I'd put it on England." Sakib hits two.

Bangladesh 82-6 (Sakib 33 Mortaza 1) Overs: 19
Not everyone interviewed this morning predicted a victory for Bangladesh. Ms Chawdhury, the owner of an Aldgate hair salon and admirably well informed on the World Cup, feared her national team would succumb to a collapse akin to the one currently unfolding. Sakib hits a four and a single from Monty's first over.

Bangladesh 77-6 (Sakib 28 Mortaza 1) Overs: 18
Stu Leece writes: "Ok, Vaughan isn't on the best of form but who would be a credible replacement for him as captain? Flintoff is a no-no after Pedalogate (and isn't in the best of batting form either), Collingwood and Nixon haven't the experience . . . so it is either Vaughan or nothing. Maybe the solution would be to drop himself down the batting order, let Pietersen come in earlier and have a good slog, then Vaughan could come in to rebuild his confidence." Send your thoughts to sport@timesonline.co.uk Anderson concedes two singles and a bye.

Bangladesh 74-6 (Sakib 27 Mortaza 0) Overs: 17
Vaughan watch: he has called a power play, but does not properly inform Steve Bucknor and is forced to delay it an over. Sakib then drives two fours from Flintoff through the gaps in an unorthodox offside field. "These are bizarre tactics," cries Damien Fleming, unintentionally contributing to our subplot.

Bangladesh 65-6 (Sakib 10 Mortaza 0) Overs: 16
Mortaza defends Anderson's final two.

WICKET! Ahmed c Nixon b Anderson 10
Like several of his team-mates today, Ahmed is deceived by extra bounce, edging a perfectly-pitched delivery to Nixon. The wicket-keeper catches two-handed and diving.

Bangladesh 65-5 (Sakib 10 Ahmed 15) Overs: 15
Vaughan watch: Pietersen - recently billeted to third man - sprints across to a cut from Sakib and expertly keeps Bangladesh to two runs in another incident that reflects well on England's beleaguered captain. Ahmed then closes the over with a huge six.

Bangladesh 54-5 (Sakib 10 Ahmed 7) Overs: 14
Ahmed whips an straight delivery brilliantly through mid-wicket for four. A similar shot then earns him another three. England may be winning but Vaughan, it seems, still warrants deselection. Patrick Burke writes: "Any player is only as good as their last game. On this theory Vaughan should be counting his blessings he is still there. If there is another bad performance by him he should be dropped. Although now it maybe too late considering the ground they have got to make up on the teams above." Email sport@timesonline.co.uk

WICKET! Ashraful c Nixon b Anderson 1
Anderson drifts a delivery from Bangladesh's best batsman and Nixon holds the edge easily to further lever Vaughan's reputation - he had just recalled Anderson to the attack. His decision to bat first has paid consideriable dividends, too.

Bangladesh 47-4 (Sakib 10 Ashraful 1) Overs: 13
Vaughan watch: Kevin Pietersen has replaced Monty at third man, putting the latter at third man, presumably in response to Flintoff's offcutters. A good decision. Possibly England's worst fielder, Monty has been frequently engaged by the batsmen this morning. Rejaul, incidentally predicted a narrow Bangladesh victory, although did admit that the toss would play an important role.

Bangladesh 42-4 (Sakib 10 Ashraful 0) Overs: 12
Rejaul Malik Tarek, incidentally, the hospitable gent welcoming customers to the Spice Brick Lane restaurant today, echoed James's thoughts: "Michael Vaughan has not done so well lately. He should be dropped," he said, ruthlessly. Just a single and a wide conceded by Mahmood.

Bangladesh 40-4 (Sakib 8 Ashraful 0) Overs: 11
Ashraful, fresh from a heroic innings against South Africa, survives the final two deliveries from Flintoff's over. James Jackson writes via email: "Michael "Brearley" Vaughan will come good with the bat - but I don't think international cricket, even less so one day cricket, is the best place to rediscover your form. Get home and get some games for Yorkshire - he can't be tired he had a year off!!!" Remember, sport@timesonline.co.uk

WICKET! Rahim b Bangladesh 7
Flintoff strikes with his fourth delivery, a beauty that pitches outside offstump darts back to middle. Next up, Ashraful.

Bangladesh 35-3 (Rahim 7 Sakib 8) Overs: 10
Sakib hits an errant delivery from Mahmood through the offside for an impressive four. This early collapse may have tempered the buoyant mood TO discovered among London's Bangladeshis this morning but there is still hope, judging by most of the analyses. For, most agreed that, if Bangladesh are to spark some parties in the East End today, much rests with the free-hitting talents of Arshraful and Ahmed, both of whom have yet to bat. Another erratic over from Mahmood, four good balls undermined by two sent to the boundary.

WICKET! Nafees c Strauss b Mahmood 9
Again, England profit despite some sloppy cricket. Nixon parries an edge two-handed to Strauss at second slip, who succeeds where his team-mate failed. Bangladesh are in trouble.

Bangladesh 22-2 (Nafees 8 Rahim 0) Overs: 8
Mr Hamad, incidentally, was keen not to discourage customers from his dining room. Asked to nominate the most dangerous England player, he replied, "They're very good, very nice. Everything about them is nice." Which, if one is to extend the point, is probably a vote of confidence for Vaughan. Rahim, the 18-year-old, has taken to the crease. Bangladesh need him to stay there.

Bangladesh 22-2 (Nafees 8 Rahim 0) Overs: 6
Vaughan watch: "I've seen Michael Vaughan drop some easy catches before, but that was really sloppy," sighs Ian Botham, placing even further importance on TO's examination of Vaughan's leadership skills.

WICKET! Bashar run out (Vaughan) 4
Mr Hamad may be thinking otherwise now. Nafees dollied to Vaughan wide of mid-on, the England captain dropped - almost unforgiveably - and fired the ball to Paul Nixon as if in frustration. Expecting the catch, Bashar was stranded mid-wicket.

Bangladesh 22-1 (Nafees 8 Bashar 2) Overs: 5
Collingwood dives low to his right to expertly stop more than a single, then Monty Panesar returns a hook to square leg, delighting the India supporters in the crowd who had bought their tickets presumably hoping to be supporting their own team and not the incumbent minnows in this game. Two wides assist Bangladesh, but Bashar is looking vulnerable, which might worry Mr Hamad of The Clifton curry house on 1 Whitechapel Road. "I'm thinking Bangladesh will win," he said confidently, while waiting for today's lunchtime rush.

Bangladesh 12-1 (Nafees 3 Bashar 2) Overs: 3
That is not the only feature of today's OBO commentary. We will also publish the results of our straw poll of London's Bangladeshi community. We asked a scientifically chosen sample of Brick Lane's curry-house employees whom they thought would triumph today. The results are interesting. (Clue: it doesn't look good for England.) Three from Anderson.

Bangladesh 9-1 (Nafees 1 Bashar 0) Overs: 2
Looking ill at ease, Bashar plays and leaves another quick delivery from Mahmood and then mistimes an attempted hook. Nafees took a single to leave Iqbal facing that fateful delivery. So, does Vaughan really excel with his decisions in the field? Does he draw the best from his men? Do the team selections that he contributes to show unusual insight? Hmm, well, quite possibly. Many had called for Mahmood to be dropped, but Vaughan and the selectors resisted and the bowler has responded with an excellent opening six.

WICKET! Iqbal c Collingwood b Mahmood 8
The 18-year-old has gone. Deceived by a delivery with added pace and bounce, he looped the ball to Collingwood in the slips, who held comfortably.

Bangladesh 8-0 (Iqbal 8 Nafees 0) Overs: 1
Tamim Iqbal begins with some attacking intent, striking two fours from James Anderson. The first is a well-timed clip through the second wicket, the second a drive over extra cover that bounced twice before passing the rope.

2.25pm
In today's OBO coverage TO has decided to scrutinise the captaincy of Michael Vaughan. Yet to return a decent innings in the tournament, Vaughan has kept his place on the strength of his leadership qualities. But, as The Times' Richard Hobson asked when he compared Vaughan to the mis-hitting captain Mike Brearley, does really merit a place in the team?

2.20pm
Welcome to Times Online's over-by-over coverage of England's crucial Super Eights match against Bangladesh. Michael Vaughan's side need to win keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals. England have fielded a side unchanged from the team that lost to Australia in their most recent game. Vaughan has won the toss and elected to bowl first.

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