Pacers carve up Bangladesh for 182

Tamim Iqbal continued his excellent form and made a valiant 95 but Australia’s bowling proved too hot to handle for the rest of the Bangladesh line-up who folded for just 182 in the Group A clash of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 at The Oval.

After making an interesting choice to bat first despite overcast conditions and rain forecast for the evening, Bangladesh’s batting crumbled in just 44.3 overs against relentless and aggressive bowling by Australia.

Mitchell Starc led the way with 4 for 29, but it was a collective performance from Australia as every bowler played their part. Bangladesh was never allowed to get away at any stage, and only three batsmen got double-digit scores.

That one of those was close to triple digits showed Tamim’s grit, but the first half of the game belonged to Australia’s bowlers.

Steven Smith was critical of them after the first game but would have been pleased with their discipline on the day.

With the conditions largely overcast, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood set the tone with some aggressive pace and tight lines. Tamim tried to break free and got three early boundaries, but once Soumya Sarkar nicked Hazlewood to the wicketkeeper in the sixth over, Tamim and Bangladesh slowed down.

Like England did in the earlier game, Australia’s pacers targeted Tamim’s ribs and head. The short-ball strategy nearly worked when he gloved and top-edged pulls, but on both occasions, the ball evaded fielders.

Only 37 runs came in the first ten overs and the run-rate took a further beating when Imrul Kayes tamely chipped Pat Cummins to point and Mushfiqur Rahim surprisingly chose not to review a leg before decision despite a faint inside edge to Moises Henriques’ straight ball. By the 17th over, Bangladesh was stuttering at 53 for 3 and went through an 11-over period without a boundary.

The left hand-dominated Bangladesh top order allowed Smith to slip in quick overs from Travis Head, and the offspinner responded by conceding just 18 runs in seven overs.

But it was also a phase when Bangladesh showed some fight, with Shakib Al Hasan joining Tamim. Australia kept both quiet but often against the run of play, Tamim counter-attacked.

The opener was, at one stage, ambling on 34 off 64 balls but out of nowhere, took to Henriques in a 16-run over with two fours and a six to reach his fifty off 69 balls. The stylish footwork and quick hands once again seemed in full flow when he lifted Head for two inside-out sixes in the 30th over.

But just when the partnership passed 50, Head struck in the same over trapping Shakib leg before despite a review from the batsman.

From there on, it was once again a case of Tamim searching for steady company. He found that hard to get though, as Sabbir Rahman and Mahmudullah fell to poor shot selection as much as they did to Adam Zampa’s accuracy. Sabbir failed to keep a drive down and was caught at cover, while Mahmudullah’s cut only resulted in an inside edge to the stumps. Zampa was held back till the 35th over but, within his first 12 balls, struck twice to reduce Bangladesh to 153 for 6.

Tamim fought on for a while and stretched the innings as much as he could, in the process getting into the 90s. He seemed set for another century in the tournament but fell five runs short in a rather unfortunate fashion when his trademark whip-pull off Starc resulted in a top edge to fine leg.

Once that opening was found, the rest was too easy for yorker-machine Starc. Three pinpoint straight ones – including two in a row to Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain – followed, disturbing the stumps to complete the formalities.