Champions Trophy: Joe Root hits a century as England beat Bangladesh

Joe Root compiled an unbeaten century as England opened their Champions Trophy campaign with victory over Bangladesh at The Oval.

Root made 133 not out and Alex Hales 95 as England, the bookmakers' favourites for the tournament, reached their target of 306 with 16 balls to spare.

Tamim Iqbal hit 128 in Bangladesh's 305-5, with Liam Plunkett taking 4-59.

But England suffered injury concerns as Chris Woakes sustained a side problem and Root appeared to hurt his calf.

Ben Stokes, who required a pre-match fitness test on a knee injury, did manage to bowl seven overs.

However, Woakes only sent down two before leaving the field, while Root hobbled through much of the second part of his innings. Woakes is being sent for a scan on Thursday evening while Root's niggle is thought to be less serious.

England will probably secure a place in the semi-finals if they beat New Zealand in Cardiff on Tuesday, while Bangladesh almost certainly have to beat Australia on Monday to avoid being eliminated.

• Watch highlights of England's victory on BBC Two at 23:20 BST (UK only)

Ups and downs as England get going

England are strongly fancied to win their first global 50-over trophy largely because of the strength of their batting, which again impressed on a superb surface.

But their bowling, arguably a weakness, showed room for improvement for sterner tests to come. Pace bowler Jake Ball, preferred to the leg spin of Adil Rashid, went at more than eight an over.

Opener Jason Roy, with a highest score of 20 in his six previous one-day internationals, made only one from eight balls before scooping pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza to short fine leg.

Still, injuries are starting to look like the biggest problem. After doubts over Stokes, the loss of either Root or Woakes, England's highest ranked ODI batsman and bowler respectively, would be a huge blow.

Root leads the way

Even in such perfect conditions for batting, Bangladesh's total was enough to pressure England, especially after Roy was dismissed.

However, Root and Hales calmed any fears of an upset with a second-wicket stand of 159.

Hales muscled the ball through the leg side, played brutal cuts and lofted two sixes, only to be caught on the leg side boundary when looking for the blow that would have taken him to a century.

Root deftly worked the ball off his pads and behind square on the off side and, despite being in obvious discomfort after suffering the injury on 61, completed a 10th ODI hundred.

By that time he had been joined by captain Eoin Morgan. The left-hander survived a spectacular catch which was claimed by Tamim - but not given following a look at television replays - before compiling a typically calculated unbeaten 75.

They added an unbroken 143 for the third wicket, Root accelerating after passing three figures to post his highest ODI score.

Bangladesh impress before falling short

Of the Test-playing nations, Liam Plunkett has taken more ODI wickets in 2017 than any other bowler

Bangladesh took advantage of being invited to bat, led by the sparkling Tamim and cheered on by an energetic crowd.

Tamim was on 19 when he could have fallen to a vicious Mark Wood bouncer but, after that, he despatched anything short and played drives down the ground.

He shared a stand of 166 with Mushfiqur Rahim (79) to move Bangladesh to a dangerous 259-2 with six overs remaining.

But Tamim skied to Jos Buttler and Mushfiqur holed to long on from successive Plunkett deliveries to halt the Tigers' momentum.

Bangladesh posted their highest ODI total against England, but it was still about 30 runs short of really testing the powerful home batting.

Analysis

Ex-England captain Alec Stewart on Test Match Special: "Whatever you throw at Joe Root, he proves that he can do it. People say he isn't a power hitter or whatever but he hits sixes.

"He has mastered Test cricket, 50-over and Twenty20 cricket. Whenever England need him he scores runs.

"He plays safe shots and scores at a run a ball. That is all you can ask. I don't see his injury being a problem at all. The real concern is Chris Woakes."

Tamim Iqbal hit 12 fours and three sixes in his 142-ball 128

'Root is the glue in our side' - what they said

England captain Eoin Morgan: "When the guys bat like that it is a lot easier than it used to be. When you have Joe Root in your side and an in-form Alex Hales, that is a huge factor. They struck the ball really well.

"Joe (Root) is the glue in our side. He has scored a lot of runs in the last couple of years and continues to do it. He is not slow. He is batting at pace. He has been working on his power hitting and today it worked."

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza: "On this wicket we were a little bit short. In the middle patches we couldn't get any wickets and Root and Morgan took the game away from us.

"At the end of our innings with six or seven wickets in hand we could have been a lot better. We need more variety in our attack. We will think about playing an extra bowler."