Hero Bell takes his chance at the top of the order

Ian Bell demonstrated his true talents on the one-day international stage at last, reviving a limited-overs career many feared was destined to end in tortured anti-climax.

Bell was left out of England’s 50-over squad four months ago, and an unexpected 4-0 series victory over Pakistan back then to some minds spelled the end for him as an ODI batsman.

Instead, Kevin Pietersen’s shock retirement from the shorter formats has not only given Bell another chance but provided him with the opportunity to bat at the top of the order again.

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In his 109th ODI, he did not disappoint – overcoming the significant hiccough of a broken jaw, suffered in indoor practice on Friday, to make a masterful 126 in England’s 114-run D/L victory at the Ageas Bowl to go 1-0 up on the West Indies in the three-match NatWest Series.

It was only the second ODI hundred of the 30-year-old’s career, a damning statistic for one of his undoubted class – proven many times in Test cricket in recent times.

Bell feared for an anxious hour or two on Friday that his chance to impress might be stolen away again, after edging a pull on to his chin and having to go to hospital for 10 stitches in a deep wound and an X-ray on his jawbone.

But he said: “I was quite lucky that all the precautions from the backroom staff got me in a good frame of mind.

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“I pretty much thought I was going to play from Friday night anyway. So it was quite easy coming to the ground, knowing I was going to play regardless.”

What of those moments, though, when he thought his friendly-fire injury might rule him out?

“That was probably before the scan,” he added. “But as soon as you get the green light from that and everything’s fine, there’s no doubt I wanted to play.

“It had gone quite deep to the bone, and there were a few layers of stitches – and then the 10 on the surface.

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“It was weird, because it hurt more by my ear really rather than where it actually hit me.

“Then when the blood was coming down, I didn’t really know where from – so it was a strange one.”

Bell admits he felt the usual nerves but nothing out of the ordinary, even though he was being asked to replace England’s highest-profile batsman Pietersen.

“I had the normal butterflies for any international – which is exciting – but I wanted to take the opportunity and go out there and get a big score,” he said. “It’s something very exciting to open the innings for England, and to be at the top of the order was something I wanted to do.”

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