Starting from the team selection, it all went downhill in terms of management. Questions were rife when they broke the winning combination to make room for out-of-sorts Shahriar Nafees at the top of the order. On a wicket that had enough movement to trouble the technically tight Ian Bell and Michael Vaughan, it was a trifle careless to let Nafees play in his bad patch. For a man who has nothing to show for in his last nine innings against top opposition, it was the management's first blunder.

Then came the Habibul Bashar-shocker. What on earth was he looking at when his opposite number (and equally careless) Michael Vaughan dropped that dolly from Nafees? He was miles out of the crease when Paul Nixon whipped off the bails from a frustrated Vaughan throw. This was not the first time that Bashar embarrassed himself. In this World Cup, this was his third run-out (against Sri Lanka and New Zealand).

Last year at Fatullah during a crucial passage of play in the first Test against Australia, Bashar was strolling by the time Michael Clarke had knocked the stumps down with a direct hit from square-leg. His comical dismissal simply showed how the team management looked at the match -- with trepidation.

But amazingly, and quite refreshingly, the players were up for a win. It never looked that winning was not an option to them. Their body language spoke for their mindset.

It looked as if they wanted to win but were restricted by a lack of prior preparation for this kind of pitch. And as it always happens, their laziness was on display. The batting order was hastily prepared; when Sajid Mahmood made the ball move, Mushfiqur Rahim was shuttled up to number four. His dismissal was just a matter of time.

Batting usually reflects how the management thinks on their feet because much of it is done in the dressing-room with equal decision-making from the coach as it is from the captain.

Thankfully Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak and Syed Rasel made sure that England were pushed all the way till the end. Rafique, in particular, was at his wily best.

Brought on when half of the runs in the chase were scored, the 36-year-old left-arm spinner brought England down to their knees with his nagging line and immaculately placed arm-balls. Razzak, faster through the air, again showed that he is the man in form. If only Rahim's wicketkeeping complemented the fielding, a win was a possibility.

With just a few days left before their Ireland match at the same venue, the management should be well aware that one slip-up in relentless international cricket is as bad as making a hundred big mistakes.