The tournament opener against New Zealand left the 2019 winners battered, but they also earned a significant victory of their own to cap their trip to the outer reaches of the Himalayas.
Malan, who led England to 364 for nine with a fourth century in his past nine innings, was the architect, scoring a career-best 140 in 107 balls.
They were on track to score 400 at one point, but a string of late-inning wickets prevented them from doing so.
It was still their highest World Cup total achieved while playing on foreign grounds, and they defeated their underdog opponents with ease when Topley was promoted to the starting lineup.
By replacing spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali with the 6′ 7″ left-armer, England boosted their pace assault. This was a wise move as Topley destroyed Bangladesh’s top order and concluded with four for 43.
He clean-bowled skipper Shakib Al Hasan with a beautiful delivery in his opening over got two wickets in two balls and then looped back for the tenacious Mushfiqur Rahim.
He was the best player overall and won’t be moved from the squad roster anytime soon.
With the bat, Bangladesh completely lost its way, stumbling to a 227 all-out total while helping to undo most of the recent harm to England’s net run rate.
It was only last month that Malan was officially named to the starting lineup. At the same time as the selectors were beginning to doubt Jason Roy’s form and health, Malan went on an impressive run of late summer form.
His performance against the Black Caps in Ahmedabad was not at its best due to a sluggish start, but the 36-year-old dispelled any concerns about his readiness with a beautifully timed knock.
He scored his first 50 runs quickly, needing only 39 balls, and after scoring 52 runs to reach his half-century, he displayed some additional gear by scoring 40 runs in the final 16 balls.
Malan’s ambitious streak was evident from the outset, with two glorious sixes off Mustafizur Rahman the highlight of England’s 61-run powerplay.
Dawid Malan’s stunning century and Reece Topley’s eye-catching comeback helped England beat Bangladesh by 137 runs in Dharamshala, restarting their World Cup defense.
He pulled hard in the second shot while standing erect in the first, where he stooped low enough to orchestrate a slog-sweep across the deep square, a move that required both guts and time.
He adopted a new strategy as Bangladesh withdrew to spin, seldom allowing himself to go airborne, threading his strokes into spaces, and pulling off a reverse sweep in opposition to Shakib’s steadying influence.
With Jonny Bairstow (52), who had earlier joined England’s 100-cap club after receiving a presentation from former captain Eoin Morgan, he shared the lion’s share of a 115-run partnership. Bairstow was looking well until Shakib slipped one into his leg stump.
Malan also scored more than Joe Root did in the crucial 151-run third-wicket stand that kept England going for over 20 overs.
Root, who defeated the Black Caps by himself courtesy of a well-made 77, was cool and collected once more, letting free just momentarily to reverse ramp Mustafizur for six.
He surpassed Graham Gooch’s record of 897 runs scored in World Cup cricket after reaching 82, passing him.
Malan provided the middle order’s power hitters with the ideal starting point of 266 for two when he exited the game in the 38th over after unleashing a torrent against Mehedi Hasan.
It was a failure to score 98 more runs for the loss of seven wickets, in large part due to Sofiul Islam, who dismissed Jos Buttler, Joe Root, and Liam Livingstone in the span of nine deliveries.
They already had more than enough, however, and Topley’s new ball display put an end to the argument.
He doubled England’s previous total of one wicket taken in his first over after watching from the sidelines the previous time they played.
His second delivery left Najmul Shanto as he sprayed to the backward point, while his fourth delivery swung enough to take Tanzid Hasan’s outside edge and carry to the second slip.
Despite misunderstanding the hat-trick ball, Shakib managed to survive. However, he was quickly defeated by something even better, as one that stayed its line and clipped the top off beat him on the outside edge.
Before Woakes and Topley returned to increase their hauls, Liton Das (76) and Mushfiqur (51) made England work, but any sense of danger had long since vanished.
Adil Rashid scored his first run of the competition in Livingstone’s 16th over after he produced a first-ball wicket to offset his first-ball dismissal with the bat.
Bangladesh’s complacency allowed them to go almost to the end, but Mark Wood and Sam Curran smashed the stumps in the closing stages to end the game.
