Mahmudullah, Rahim take Bangladesh to fighting 275/7

Mahmudullah became the first Bangladesh batsman to score a World Cup hundred, guiding his team to a decent 275 for seven against England in a crucial Pool A cricket match, here today.

For Mahmudullah, it was his maiden One-day hundred and it could not have come at a better time as his side is still in the race to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Mahmudullah bettered Bangladesh's previous individual best of 95 made by Tamim Iqbal against Scotland earlier the tournament.

He, along with Mushfiqur Rahim, who smashed his way to 89 off 77 balls, lifted Bangladesh from a sloppy start by adding 141 runs for the fifth wicket.

The partnership was another World Cup record for the Bangladesh side.

Paceman James Anderson (2/45) had provided England a fiery start by removing both the openers -- Imrul Kayes (2) and Tamim Iqbal (2) -- in his first two overs but the following batsmen showed a lot determination.

Mahmudullah first shared a 86-run stand with Soumya Sarkar (40) to stabilise the innings and then combined with Rahim to stitch up a decent total.

Mahmudullah's 103 came off 138 balls with seven hits to the fence and two over it and Rahim punished the British bowlers by eight fours and a six.

Bangladesh could have scored more but Chris Jordan bowled a fantastic penultimate over in which he gave away just three runs and took a wicket too.