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'They thoroughly deserved their victory' - Strauss

England's one-day renaissance has hit the buffers. Two defeats against Australia with the series wrapped up were forgiveable, but their five-run loss against Bangladesh should come as a real shock to the system.

Andrew Strauss got England off to another good start, but Bangladesh ran through England's middle order  •  Getty Images

Andrew Strauss got England off to another good start, but Bangladesh ran through England's middle order  •  Getty Images

England's one-day renaissance has hit the buffers. Two defeats against Australia with the series wrapped up were forgiveable, but their five-run loss against Bangladesh should come as a real shock to the system. England looked off the pace throughout the match at Bristol and were caught out by a resurgent visiting team that finally found a way to finish off a match.
That England got as close as they did, to the point that Ian Bell limped out with a broken foot at No. 11, was down to Jonathan Trott's determined 94 that almost pulled them over the line. However, the fact that one batsman dominated in the chase is a pattern that has emerged this season for England. Eoin Morgan was the man in the first two wins against Australia, then it was Andrew Strauss at Old Trafford.
Two days ago at Trent Bridge Bell made a stylish 84, but still batsmen gave their wickets away. It is a by-product of the way England now express themselves in one-day cricket that batsmen will make mistakes, but to be successful on the subcontinent at next year's World Cup England can't rely on a handful of batsmen.
"We weren't at the races today, it's as simple as that," Strauss said. "Our bowling was okay but our fielding was poor and our batting, chasing 237, was a particularly poor effort if I'm honest. We've only got ourselves to blame but we also have to give credit to Bangladesh for the way they defended that total. They were able to take wickets throughout the innings and keep the pressure on.
"We've had starts at the top of the order, 20s, 30s but we've not had enough big scores," he added. "Fair play to Belly coming in in the last game and Jonathan Trott in this one coming in and showing the rest of us what we should be doing on a more regular basis. You need two or three of your top six to be doing that regularly if you want to win consistently.
"[Paul] Collingwood and [Eoin] Morgan getting out when they did gave Bangladesh a much better chance of winning the game but it was the constant loss of wickets and a lack of major partnerships that cost us the game."
This isn't a time to panic for England, Andy Flower is not that type of coach and Strauss has been in worse situations as captain, but it is a good time to reassess where the team have reached. Some of the shots from the middle raised questions about the suitability for pressurised roles while the lack of early wickets means England have to keep clawing innings back.
"Getting bowled out for 51 in Jamaica was worse than this but it's not fun to stand up here after losing in this fashion," he said. "All we can do now is go forward and make amends.
"They were going to beat us at some stage and we were just hoping it would be some stage in the future," he added. "They thoroughly deserved their victory but for us it's about going away, licking our wounds and making sure we don't repeat the same mistakes again on Monday."
All of a sudden, that game at Edgbaston has far more riding on it that anyone would have imagined.

Andrew McGlashan is assistant editor of Cricinfo