Bangladesh flagged off their return to the ICC Champions Trophy in some intimidating fashion as their batsmen muscled England on a flat deck at the Oval. Led by their leading run getter and the ever reliable Tamim Iqbal who scored an impeccable 128, Bangladesh find themselves in the driver’s seat after amassing a colossal first innings score.
Upon winning the toss, England skipper Eoin Morgan had no hesitation in putting the visitors in to bat on a bight morning in London. After a cautious start from Tamim, the opener set the arena ablaze and along with Mushfiqur Rahim, stitched a wonderful partnership for Bangladesh.
However, the duo made a mess of their hard work and threw their wickets away in successive deliveries as Liam Plunkett got England back into the game. Once Tamim was dismissed for 128, Bangladesh could have been restricted below the 300 mark.
Thanks to a breezy cameo from Sabbir Rahman though, Bangladesh crossed the 300 run barrier and ended their innings with 305 on board. Despite not being too happy, the visitors would take the score if it was offered to them at the start. For England now however, the need to chase with a clear mindset becomes extremely integral. The likes of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan will hold the aces for England in the run chase.
With a massive target on the way for England, a promising and enthralling chase awaits us in the tournament opener. Fans on Twitter lauded Bangladesh for a superb batting display, and below are some of the tweets.
Settled team for 2 years .. Rashid plays 41 of 44 games from last WC .. 1st game of major tournament changes !!!!!!!!! #Crackers #EngvBan
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/vidit1311/status/870258703131213828
WICKET! A wonderful innings by Tamim Iqbal comes to an end for a fantastic 128!
#ENGvBAN #CT17 pic.twitter.com/oVX2059FbT— Cricket_Fever (@cricket_feverr) June 1, 2017
On his day there's nothing much that the opposition bowling department can do when you are in such a great form. Brilliant Tamin #ENGvBAN
— Praveen Namasivayam ?? (@PravNamasivayam) June 1, 2017
Hundred In Debut Innings In #CT17
A Campbell
S Tendulkar
A Gunawardene
Saeed Anwar
M Kaif
U Tharanga
S Dhawan
Tamim Iqbal ??#ENGvBAN— Ćurious Shafiyań ❼ (@ImShafiyanCR7) June 1, 2017
Great knock from Tamim iqbal #EngvBan #ct17
— Gary (@garysmith1718) June 1, 2017
So Bangladesh once again proving themselves to everyone that they don't possess the tag "underdog!" #CT17 #ENGvBAN @StarSportsIndia
— Charan (@itzzMEcharan) June 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/CricketCAREER/status/870258472293675011
Congratulations Tamim on your century. You certainly played a leadership style role.#engvban
— Muhammad Abdur (@bigzy786ma) June 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/anuragchturvedi/status/870258437564792833
Setting of a delicious game…#Ban looking set for 320+ and #Eng getting a little ruffled. #CT17 @StarSportsIndia
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 1, 2017
The Oval goes berserk as Tamim Iqbal scores the first hundred of the Champions Trophy (Stokes applauds, by the way)
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) June 1, 2017
Tamim Iqbal's ODI centuries:
Before WC 2015 – 4 100s in 140 inns
After WC 2015 – 5 100s in 28 inns#ENGvBAN— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) June 1, 2017
Tamim Iqbal should just say " I've got 2 words for you, Carlos Brathwaite" ?#BANvENG
— Saadify (@saadify) June 1, 2017
Tamim Iqbal's run of scores in past couple of years amazing. Can any statistician point out highlights?Apart from today's century of course
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 1, 2017
Technically, England are already 1 down as Chris Woakes won't be able to come out and bat! Bangladesh only need 9 wickets! #ENGvBAN #CT17
— Raheel?? (@Raheel0194) June 1, 2017
After losing against Ind, a good come back by Bangladesh. Bt, We must beat them next. #ENGvBAN
— Shahed Jahedi (@ShahedJahedi) June 1, 2017
England can chase anything and everything but Bangla spin attack can trouble them #ENGvBAN
— Malik Mohyu (@3093Mohyu) June 1, 2017
Congrats @TamimOfficial28 for your 100.#CT17 #ENGvBAN #Bangladesh #GoTigersGo
— Pritam Nandy (@ImPritamNandy) June 1, 2017
Ooh England are playing by great one day cricket, everyone will fear us! Oh dear Bangladesh are better than we thought! #ENGvBAN
— Jeff Peace (@74JLP) June 1, 2017
Tamim Iqbal#ENGvBAN #CT17 pic.twitter.com/JU6MFeyZAR
— Troll Cricket (@TrollCricket3) June 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/TEZ_UPDATE/status/870267355879923713
Plunkett's last 4 ODIs
8-0-23-3 vs Ireland
9-0-42-1 vs South Africa
10-0-64-3 vs South Africa
10-0-59-4 vs Bangladesh* #ENGvBAN #CT17
— mahalakshmi Indian (@mahalakshmi3117) June 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/imAayush1802/status/870267349001277440