Ton-up Tamim, Rahim drive Bangladesh

The last time Bangladesh played at The Oval, it was rolled over for just 84 in less than 24 overs by India in a warm-up match. Just two days after that debacle, at the same venue, Bangladesh slammed 305 for 6 in its ICC Champions Trophy 2017 opener against England on Thursday to send strong signals that it isn’t here to merely make up the numbers.

The missing link between the two games was Tamim Iqbal, who made a mature 142-ball 128 – his ninth century in One-Day Internationals. He was ably aided by Mushfiqur Rahim, who hit 79 off 72 during a third-wicket partnership of 166 with Tamim.

Tamim was the in-form batsman for Bangladesh, having scored a century in its warm-up against Pakistan before being rested for the India game. His maturity came to the fore in the way he paced his innings; Tamim took 71 balls for his first 50 runs, but added 78 more off the next 71. Importantly, he made it big.

After England opted to field, Chris Woakes got the tournament going with a maiden to Tamim, but left the field after bowling just two overs, aggravating a side strain that kept him out of his team’s previous ODI. Still, Woakes set the tone for the early passage of play and showed his colleagues the length to bowl to Tamim – short and on the body.

The tidy bowling kept Tamim quiet – he took 11 balls to get off the mark and 20 to find his first boundary. He was also nearly bowled when he awkwardly fended at a short ball from Mark Wood and the ball threatened to lob back on to the stumps, only to be kept out by some nifty footwork.

While Tamim went through some early struggles, Soumya Sarkar found the odd boundary while targeting Jake Ball and kept Bangladesh going. Sarkar was dropped by Moeen Ali at square-leg when on 11, but just when he threatened to make use of the reprieve, he slashed Ben Stokes straight to deep cover, yet again failing to convert a promising start. Ditto with Imrul Kayes, who too began well before heaving Liam Plunkett to mid-on, where Wood took a stunning catch diving to his left.

By then, Tamim had shed his early jitters and got into the groove gradually. It meant Bangladesh accelerated after a slow start, adding 61 runs between overs ten and 20 to move to 97 for 2.

From then on, it was a Tamim-Rahim show. The experienced pair showed tremendous understanding of the conditions and the situation, piling on the runs in quick time without going berserk.

They chose contrasting methods to do so as well. Tamim took the boundary-hitting route, stepping out and lofting Moeen over long-off, and stylishly whipping and driving Plunkett for boundaries. Rahim was defter in his approach but hurt England equally, scoring in typically busy fashion with quick singles and doubles.

Before England could regroup, Rahim had raced to his half-century off just 48 balls, the boundary count of just four showing how busy he was in the middle overs. It also ensured Bangladesh kept getting over 60 runs in every ten-over block.

Rahim’s quick knock allowed Tamim to slow down a touch for his century, which he got in the 39th over flicking Moeen for a single. It took 124 balls, but once the milestone was crossed, Tamim switched to fifth gear, hitting Wood and Moeen for big sixes.

Rahim too unleashed his cheeky avatar, cutting and scooping the pacers to the ropes. The dual assault took Bangladesh past 250 in the 44th over but just when it seemed set for a strong finish, Plunkett got both in successive balls to break the momentum. Tamim was caught by Jos Buttler miscuing a short ball while Rahim holed out to long-on.

Bangladesh had two new batsmen in the middle which meant it could add only 43 more runs despite a cameo (24 off15) from Sabbir Rahman. It was also due to some accurate death bowling by Plunkett, who finished with 4 for 59, while Ball had a forgettable outing, conceding 82 runs in 10 overs.