England outplay misfiring Tigers

Bangladesh posted 305, a total no team had chased down before in ICC Champions Trophy history. But England made light work of that chase when they galloped their way to an eight-wicket victory with a lavish 16 balls to spare in the opening match of the eighth edition of the global event at The Oval yesterday.

Tamim Iqbal scored a sublime 128 in Bangladesh's fighting total, which was overtaken by another magnificent unbeaten 133 by England's master batsman Joe Root on a ground famous for producing tons of runs. It was fitting that the previous highest successful chase -- 297 by Sri Lanka against England on this very ground in 2013 -- was overtaken yesterday. And the home side smiled this time in front of a packed crowd and under glorious sunshine.

With five overs remaining it was the England supporters who were singing and the green shirts in the mix were leaving the stands, anticipating a defeat.

It was an incredible opening game as far as scoring runs were concerned. After a cautious start that saw Bangladesh scoring 36 in 10 overs, runs cascaded on an absolute belter of a wicket. Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 166 runs for the third wicket, which was Bangladesh's highest partnership for any wicket outside the country. It was also the highest third-wicket stand at The Oval. The pair were going great guns as the game progressed into the 45th over with the Tigers delicately poised at 259 for two.

It was a situation from where Bangladesh could hope for a total in excess of 330 runs. But the departure of Tamim and Mushfiqur off successive deliveries effectively dashed that hope and despite a quickfire 24 off 15 balls from Sabbir Rahman, Bangladesh could only manage 305 for six in 50 overs. Bangladesh might have scored 84 runs in the last 10 overs but it was disappointing that they could score only five runs in the last over.

England's chase was more spectacular despite the fact that Jason Roy, one of the two hard-hitting openers, was dismissed for one. He played an injudicious scoop shot off Mashrafe and was beautifully caught by an airborne Mustafizur Rahman at short fine leg. They lost another wicket along the way when Alex Hales holed out in the deep for playing one shot too many. But by the time he was dismissed he had smashed 95 runs off 86 balls with the help of 11 fours and a couple of sixes. The tall right-hander was involved in a 159-run second-wicket stand with Root.

Root was involved in another century stand, an unbeaten 143-run partnership with captain Eoin Morgan, who hit an unbeaten 75 off 61 balls. England's chase against a depleted Bangladesh attack filled with bits and pieces bowlers was never in trouble. It was quite inexplicable for Bangladesh to field eight batsmen at the expense of a bowler. And with Shakib Al Hasan struggling with the ball, Bangladesh virtually gambled with three pacers and no recognised spinner in the side apart from Shakib. And the gamble of bringing on batsman Imrul Kayes at the expense of a spinner simply backfired. We sometimes tend to forget the adage that if seven of your batsmen cannot score the runs, an eighth one will not do the trick.

And the manner of Tamim and Mushfiqur's innings issued a rude reminder that the introduction of Mahmudullah Riyad at number seven and Mosaddek Hossain at eight is a total waste. Tamim played majestically on his way to a 142-ball 128, his first century in a global event. Mushfiqur also struck an equally impressive 79 off 72 balls.     

The game also had its fair share of ill-tempered moments, such as when England all-rounder Ben Stokes was involved in an animated exchange with Tamim after the left-hander dabbed him for four down to the third man boundary in the 32nd over. Sarcastic applause from the bowler, followed by a gesture from the batsman indicating to the bowler to return to his bowling mark, incited the crowd. The umpires stepped in to quell the situation.

Later, during England's chase, there was a bit of controversy when Tamim took a diving catch at long on off Mashrafe that could have dismissed Morgan at 21. But the on-field umpire referred it to the third umpire with a soft decision of not-out. There was no conclusive evidence from replays that Tamim took the ball on the bounce. Since the on-field umpire's signal was not out, the third umpire gave the benefit of the doubt to the batsman. But the burning question is how the umpire standing at least 60 metres away from where Tamim had taken the catch was so convinced that it was taken on the bounce.

Bangladesh will play their next game against Australia at the same venue on June 5. One can hope that it is time enough for the team management to think and get the combination right.