Hosts England exhibited why they are considered as one of the favourites to win the trophy in the opening match against Bangladesh in the ICC Champions Trophy opener here on Thursday.
England can still call up a replacement, with Middlesex pair Steven Finn or Toby Roland-Jones among the contenders. From then on it was the Joe Root and Eoin Morgan show as they showed patience as well as aggression to take them past Bangladesh's total with 3 overs to spare.
The 28-year-old feared his involvement in England s latest bid to win a maiden major ODI trophy was over even before his bowling stint in south London was at an end.
Over the past four years, Finn's worldwide career has been mercurial, having opened the bowling in England's ODI series against West Indies this winter and playing in their third ODI against South Africa recently.
"The biggest thing for them was because the wicket was so good they struggled to make inroads into England's batting line-up and that is something we can maybe target".
He found himself in Woakes" shoes already, stepping in to help bowl the "death' overs and picking up two big wickets with successive deliveries in the 45th as Bangladesh centurion Tamim Iqbal and his third-wicket partner Mushfiqur Rahim both departed.
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However, Woakes only sent down two before leaving the field, while Root hobbled through much of the second part of his innings.
"A scan has confirmed that Chris Woakes sustained a left side strain in yesterday's ICC Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh", England Cricket said on their website.
It is a sign of just how far the Warwickshire all-rounder has risen in the past 12 months that his injury represents a genuine blow to England's chances of winning their first ever 50-over global tournament.
Maxwell was absent from the bowling crease against New Zealand on Friday as skipper Steve Smith again opted for Travis Head as his sole spin-bowling option. It was the first time that 300 was successfully chased in the tournament history. "And it is a worry when he goes off the field and can't come back on and bowl", he said.
"We've had our eyes on the Champions Trophy for a while now and we were coming into the tournament in good form".
"I think in the middle patches, we couldn't get any wickets".




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