Defending champions England produced an emphatic response to defeat in their opening World Cup match, crushing Bangladesh by 137 runs in Dharamsala to get their tournament up and running. A total of 364 for 9 was underpinned by Dawid Malan’s maiden World Cup hundred – and fourth this calendar year – before the returning Reece Topley ripped through the top order as Bangladesh faltered in the foothills of what would have been a record chase. Asked to make the running at the picturesque HPCA Stadium, backdropped by the Himalayas, England showed an appetite for the climb. Malan and Jonny Bairstow set off at a steady canter in recording their first century stand as openers, before the former was joined by Joe Root in a clockwork-smooth partnership of 151 in 19.3 overs to give England a formidable platform going into the latter stages – at which point they faltered against Bangladesh’s death-bowling smarts, Shoriful Islam and Mahedi Hasan claiming regular wickets. But despite an England slide of 7 for 68 from the final 10.3 overs, Bangladesh were still left with an asking rate of more than seven an over – and a target well in excess of their highest total batting second in ODIs. The challenge swiftly became steeper still, as Topley struck with his fourth, fifth and 16th balls, leaving Bangladesh tottering on 26 for 3, a scoreline that soon became 49 for 4 as Chris Woakes recovered from an expensive start. Although Litton Das, who began the chase by striking Woakes for three consecutive fours, and Mushfiqur Rahim produced half-centuries, their partnership of 72 at close to a run a ball only succeeded in adding some respectability to the scorecard. Woakes ended Litton’s hopes of a hundred when his offcutter grazed the outside edge through to Buttler, and when Mushfiqur steered a Topley bouncer to deep third, the Bangladesh innings had become a quest to limit the damage on net run rate. The margin of victory was a comfort to England, whose standing and confidence had taken a dent following their thumping in Ahmedabad. Again they were inserted after losing the toss, but this time the top order responded emphatically – if not with the overt aggression Jos Buttler had spoken of after defeat to New Zealand, then via a cold-blooded certainty in their methods. No one in the current XI does cold-blooded certainty better than Malan, whose imperious form has seen him go from spare part to first pick in a matter of months. His fourth ball, from Mustafizur Rahman, was stroked through extra cover for four and he proceeded to unload his full repertoire of pulls, flicks and slog-sweeps during the course of his 107-ball stay, which was a masterclass in acceleration. Bangladesh thought he should have been given out caught behind in single-figures, only for DRS to confirm Ahsan Raza’s on-field call after a Mustafizur bouncer flicked his shoulder on the way through. That was as close as Bangladesh came to taking a wicket in the opening powerplay, as Malan responded by driving for four and then swinging his first six over deep backward square; two overs later, Mustafizur was pulled into the crowd at deep midwicket and flipped down the ground in another crisp one-two as England’s tempo began to increase, leaving them well placed on 61 for 0 after ten.