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LONDON. — Joe Root compiled an unbeaten century as England opened their Champions Trophy campaign with victory over Bangladesh at The Oval yesterday.Root made 133 not out and Alex Hales 95 as England, the bookmakers’ favourites for the tournament, reached their target of 306 with 16 balls to spare. Tamim Iqbal hit 128 in Bangladesh’s 305-5, with Liam Plunkett taking 4-59.

But England suffered injury concerns as Chris Woakes sustained a side problem and Root appeared to hurt his calf. Ben Stokes, who required a pre-match fitness test on a knee injury, did manage to bowl seven overs.

However, Woakes only sent down two before leaving the field, while Root hobbled through much of the second part of his innings. Woakes is being sent for a scan yesterday evening while Root’s niggle is thought to be less serious.

England will probably secure a place in the semi-finals if they beat New Zealand in Cardiff on Tuesday, while Bangladesh almost certainly have to beat Australia on Monday to avoid being eliminated.

Even in such perfect conditions for batting, Bangladesh’s total was enough to pressure England, especially after Roy was dismissed. However, Root and Hales calmed any fears of an upset with a second-wicket stand of 159.

Hales muscled the ball through the leg side, played brutal cuts and lofted two sixes, only to be caught on the leg side boundary when looking for the blow that would have taken him to a century.

Root deftly worked the ball off his pads and behind square on the off side and, despite being in obvious discomfort after suffering the injury on 61, completed a 10th ODI hundred.

By that time he had been joined by captain Eoin Morgan. The left-hander survived a spectacular catch which was claimed by Tamim — but not given following a look at television replays – before compiling a typically calculated unbeaten 75.

They added an unbroken 143 for the third wicket, Root accelerating after passing three figures to post his highest ODI score. Bangladesh took advantage of being invited to bat, led by the sparkling Tamim and cheered on by an energetic crowd.

Tamim was on 19 when he could have fallen to a vicious Mark Wood bouncer but, after that, he despatched anything short and played drives down the ground. He shared a stand of 166 with Mushfiqur Rahim (79) to move Bangladesh to a dangerous 259-2 with six overs remaining.

But Tamim skied to Jos Buttler and Mushfiqur holed to long on from successive Plunkett deliveries to halt the Tigers’ momentum. Bangladesh posted their highest ODI total against England, but it was still about 30 runs short of really testing the powerful home batting — BBC Sport.