(Reuters) – England failed to seal a series clean-sweep after losing to Bangladesh in the final one-day international but captain Jos Buttler said the match offered him a chance to experiment with players ahead of their World Cup defence later this year.
England lost to Bangladesh by 50 runs in the third ODI in Chattogram on Monday after they won the first match by three wickets and the second game by 132 runs, with both contests played in Mirpur.
Buttler made changes in the team for Monday’s match as 18-year-old leg spinner Rehan Ahmed made his white-ball debut and picked up a wicket, while Sam Curran was promoted in the batting order, coming in at No. 5 as he scored 23 runs from 49 balls.
“We changed a few things today and gave an opportunity to people in different ways, but I thought the intensity was still there,” Buttler told reporters.
“There was an opportunity today to give Rehan a debut, and for Sam to bat at No. 5, and this is the last ODI we play now until September.
“So, especially in these conditions, it felt like a great chance to gather as much information as we can, and expose people to different situations. If we lost the game, then so be it.”
England will defend their title at the 50-overs World Cup, which will be held in India in October and November. They won the 2019 edition on home soil by beating New Zealand in the final.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
