Australia facing a must-win game as rain strikes again
Edgbaston clash with England now crucial Tamim knock keeps Bangladesh in the mix
Behind the moist and darkened windows of the Oval dressing room lay a quietly seething Australian team. As night fell on south London, so did the rain, washing away what would have been a routine victory over Bangladesh.
It was Australia’s second consecutive no-result, and their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals now hang on Saturday’s game against England at Edgbaston.
Proceedings were finally called off at 9.19pm, with Australia cruising towards their target of 183, David Warner and Steve Smith batting with nonchalant ease. They required just 100 more with 34 overs remaining, but more germanely, when the weather finally closed in shortly before 7pm, they had batted for 16 overs, four short of the 20 required for a complete match.
Make no mistake, Australia were stitched up good and proper here, even if there was a certain poetic justice to it, too. On Friday, their game against New Zealand was rained off when they were staring defeat in the face. And if there was any consolation for Smith and his men in the chilly June drizzle, it was that they put together a much improved performance, one that bodes well for Saturday’s must-win game in Edgbaston.
It was a complete performance, in fact, in every respect but the result. Having been cuffed around Edgbaston by New Zealand on Friday, Australia’s bowlers were agreeably on song here: taking advantage of an overcast afternoon to suffocate Bangladesh’s top order, and never again relinquishing control thereafter. Mitchell Starc’s triplewicket maiden to obliterate the tail was ample evidence that after a self-enforced lay-off, he, too, is beginning to rediscover his range.
Meanwhile, in front of a partisan, overwhelmingly favourable crowd, Bangladesh were disappointing. This was a tackier surface than the one on which they had run up 300 against England on Thursday and, aside from Tamim Iqbal’s imperious 95, they offered little with the bat and even less with the ball. But having tormented them in the afternoon, the clouds came to their rescue in the evening, and so they remain – just about – alive.
They now travel to Cardiff needing to beat New Zealand to keep their tournament afloat and, if they do, they will have Tamim to thank. Playing himself in early on and then accelerating majestically as the clouds parted and conditions became easier, Tamim came within five runs of his second consecutive century, and was ultimately the difference between one point and none. Only Shakib Al Hasan lingered with him for any sustained period, reprieved by an elementary dropped catch by Glenn Maxwell at backward point early in his innings.
Bangladesh would still have aspired to a score of around 220, but Starc saw to that, cleaning up the last three wickets with reverseswinging yorkers. The first blobs of rain began appearing during the change of innings, but the weather held out long enough for Warner and Aaron Finch to begin the Australian response without alarm. With victory in their grasp, however, the drizzle began to thicken.
“I was happy to keep batting through the rain,” Smith said. “It’s a little bit frustrating. The groundstaff could maybe have shown a bit more urgency.”
Yet Australia will take solace in the fact their destiny remains in their own hands. There is even a scenario by which their match against England could also be washed out and they would still qualify. Absurd, perhaps, but given the way things have panned out so far, you hesitate to rule it out.