England held their nerve to edge Bangladesh by three wickets thanks to Dawid Malan's magnificent unbeaten hundred in the first One Day International in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Wednesday.
Chasing 210 for victory, England lost wickets in regular intervals as Bangladesh kept pressure on visitors with tight line and length from the beginning.
But No 3 batter Malan was brilliant with the bat and held England batting from one end with a flawless 114 off 145 deliveries to steer them home with eight balls and three wickets in hand.
Malan struck eight fours and four sixes in his match-winning knock and was rightfully adjudged player of the match.
TaijuI Islam took three wickets and Mehedi Hasan Miraz bagged two, while right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed was also impressive with the ball, but those efforts were not enough to defend a moderate total of 209.
Bangladesh openers had made a cautious start after winning the toss and opting to bat first.
Skipper Tamim Iqbal was watchful after surviving a tough caught and bowled chance by Chris Woakes and he was building his innings nicely with few boundaries initially.
Liton Das took his time to open the account and struck a classy six over deep square leg against Woakes in the fifth over but lost his wicket in the very next ball.
Tamim's 23-run innings was ended by Mark Wood's sheer pace as the England quick bowled the Tigers skipper with a 149km/h delivery in the 10th over.
Nazmul Hossain Shanto, coming in at No 3, was impressive from the start and carried his good form with the bat, picking up the first half-century of his ODI career along the way.
But the loss of Mushfiqur Rahim (16) and Shakib al Hasan (eight) kept the Tigers under check in the middle overs.
Shanto and Mahmudullah formed a 53-run partnership for the fifth wicket but Shanto lost his wicket by giving a catch at short mid wicket after scoring 58, while Mahmudullah (31) also departed in the next over.
Bangladesh, left reeling on 162/6, were not able to recover and post a big total.
Eventually they were bowled out for 209 in 47.2 overs.
The second ODI of the three-match series will take place in Mirpur Friday.
