Tamim, Mushfiqur give England blues
SOLID SHOW Bangladesh opener hits ninth ODI ton, raises record stand to leave England chasing stiff target at Oval
Tamim Iqbal’s superb hundred helped take Bangladesh to 305 for six against England in the opening match of the 2017 Champions Trophy at the Oval on Thursday.
The left-hander received excellent support from Mushfiqur Rahim (79) in a thirdwicket partnership of 166.
This was Bangladesh’s highest stand in a one-day international outside Asia, surpassing the 141 put on by Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah when the Tigers knocked England out of the 2015 World Cup with a dramatic 15-run win in Adelaide.
Both batsmen, however, fell off successive balls from Liam Plunkett to leave Bangladesh 261 for four in the 45th over.
Fast bowler Plunkett led England’s attack with four for 59 from his maximum 10 overs after Chris Woakes went off after bowling just two overs because of a left side strain.
England, who came into this tournament featuring the world’s top eight ODI sides as one of the favourites after making huge strides in white-ball cricket in the last two years, were given plenty to think about after skipper Eoin Morgan opted to field despite sunny skies promising good batting conditions.
Tamim’s fellow left-handed opener Soumya Sarkar should have been out for 11 when he turned Jake Ball off his pads only for Moeen Ali to drop a twohanded catch at square leg.
But all-rounder Ben Stokes, who had been struggling for bowling fitness because of a knee injury, made the breakthrough with the last ball of his first over when Sarkar, on 28, uppercut him straight to substitute Jonny Bairstow at deep cover.
Imrul Kayes (19) fell when a miscued drive off Plunkett was well caught by a diving Mark Wood at mid-on to leave Bangladesh 95 for two in the 20th over.
That was the cue for Tamim and the diminutive Mushfiqur to take charge.
An increasingly frustrated Stokes exchanged words with Tamim and the all-rounder mockingly patted him on the shoulder at the end of the 32nd over.
Tamim was unimpressed and umpires Rod Tucker and S Ravi intervened to calm tempers.
Mushfiqur then punished Ball for dropping short by cutting him to the third man boundary.
He went to a 48-ball fifty by driving part-time off-spinner Joe Root for four.
A single against off-spinner Ali saw Tamim reach his ninth ODI century in 124 balls.
The 28-year-old then went down the pitch to drive Ali for a soaring straight six.
He was out when a skyed pull off Plunkett was held by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.
The batsmen had crossed and next ball Mushfiqur carelessly holed out to long-off, with Bangladesh only managing a relatively modest 43 off the last five overs.
Eoin Morgan’s England started the tournament as favourites, mainly because of their transformation since the World Cup defeat against Bangladesh and a first-round exit.
However, excellent batting conditions, and Morgan’s decision to ask Bangladesh to take first strike, seemed to have evened out the contest to a great extent.
Bangladesh were unrecognisable from the shaky outfit that was dismissed for 84 in less than 25 overs by India in the warm-up game on Tuesday.
The pitch conditions that were seamer-friendly for the practice games now promise to undergo a change, if the drastic change in conditions at Oval, where Bangladesh had crumbled against India in the practice game on Tuesday, was any indication.
THE LEFTHANDED TAMIM RECEIVED EXCELLENT SUPPORT FROM MUSHFIQUR RAHIM (79) IN A THIRDWICKET PARTNERSHIP OF 166.