Dawid Malan bludgeoned 140 as defending champions England piled up 364-9 in their second World Cup match against Bangladesh in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
Jos Buttler’s men showed no signs of a hangover after the nine-wicket mauling they suffered at the hands of New Zealand in their tournament opener.
But they will be disappointed they did not score even more after looking set for a mammoth total with 10 overs to go as intelligent Bangladesh bowling and good catching slowed their charge.
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In-form Malan belted five sixes and 16 fours in his career-best one-day international score and Joe Root made 82, becoming England’s all-time top-scorer at World Cups.
Bangladesh was penalised in the final overs for slow play.
“This is criminal,” Eoin Morgan said on commentary of their slow over rate.
England made a steady start at the picturesque Himalayan ground after being asked to bat, with left-hander Malan outscoring the powerful Bairstow.
The opening batsmen were initially cautious against the pace bowling of Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed but soon settled into a rhythm and rarely looked troubled.
Malan, who has displaced Jason Roy at the top of the order, cruised to his fifty off 39 balls with a mixture of timing and power.
Bairstow brought up his half-century in 54 balls in his 100th one-day international but was bowled by Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan for 52, to leave England 115-1 in the 18th over.
MATCH CENTRE: England vs Bangladesh, World Cup scorecard
That breakthrough brought Root to the wicket and the former England Test captain signalled his intent with a ramp shot for six in the 27th over.
Malan, 36, brought up a stylish century in the 32nd over, reaching the landmark off 91 balls.
He then cut loose in devastating fashion, smashing 20 runs off just four balls during a Mehidy Hasan Miraz over before Root brought up his fifty.
Bangladesh finally got a breakthrough they desperately needed when off-spinner Mahedi Hasan bowled Malan, the batsman missing a slower ball when attempting a bit hit on the leg side.
Buttler promoted himself up the order and showed his intent immediately — smashing his second ball for six, even though it was mistimed.
But the skipper departed for 20 off 10 balls, dragging a Shoriful Islam delivery onto his stumps.
Root holed out for 82, top-edging a Shoriful ball that was caught by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and Liam Livingstone had his off-stump flattened first ball.
Harry Brook flickered briefly before finding Liton Das at long off to give Mahedi his second wicket.
Bangladesh had done well to wrestle back some momentum and Sam Curran was next to go, caught on the boundary off the bowling of Mahedi.
Wickets kept tumbling but a few late blows meant England set Bangladesh a daunting 365 to win in their 50 overs and will be confident they can defend that total.
Stokes left out due to field concerns | 01:00
Earlier England captain Jos Buttler had his “fingers crossed” that players avoid serious injury in their World Cup clash against Bangladesh, on a Dharamsala surface he described as “poor”.
The notoriously sandy and bare outfield at the picturesque Himalayan ground has already come under fire at the tournament.
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott claimed Mujeeb Ur Rehman could have suffered a serious injury when his knee jarred in the ground as he dived while fielding in Saturday’s loss to Bangladesh.
“It’s poor in my opinion,” said Buttler on Monday.
“I think any time you’re sort of talking about being careful diving when you’re fielding, it goes against everything you want to be as a team.
“We won’t use it as an excuse, we’ll adapt to it. But if you feel like you’re having to hold yourself back, it’s not a place you want to be as a team or player, or in a World Cup match.”
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) inspected the surface at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in the aftermath of Saturday’s game.
They deemed it “average” but playable.
“The powers that be are comfortable,” Buttler told the BBC.
“The only thing I would question is, if you are telling players not to dive and stuff does that question the integrity of the game?
“Worst-case scenario is something bad happens, but fingers crossed that doesn’t happen for both teams.”
In February this year, the third Test match between India and Australia was moved away from Dharamsala because of concerns over the venue.
Buttler added that star player Ben Stokes would still not be available for Tuesday as he recovers from a hip injury.
Stokes missed the defending champions’ opening nine-wicket thumping at the hands of New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
However, Buttler insisted that the condition of the playing surface at the Dharamsala ground played no part in the decision to keep Stokes on the sidelines.
“It’s good to see him back in the nets and building back towards full fitness but probably he’s unlikely for tomorrow,” he said.
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