Tamim picks his moment
When Mushfiqur Rahim departed for just one in the 23rd over, and Bangladesh had slipped from a promising 119 for one to 120 for three, it seemed that the recent trend of surrendering strong positions in away ODIs was set to continue. Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had talked about it the day before the first ODI against Sri Lanka, saying that although Bangladesh had improved in ODIs their most recent matches in New Zealand showed a worrying trend of wasting opportunities.
Sri Lanka seemed to realise that too. Although Tamim Iqbal had hit a glided boundary off chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan in the second ball of the 25th over, Sri Lanka kept their tight field and Tamim, on 49, played out four dot balls, three of which he tried in vain to work away for a single and the fourth which he defended, as if to say to the bowler: “I am giving you this over, but I am not going away.”
While those may be words put into his mouth, the actions spoke louder. His eighth ODI century yesterday was probably his most accomplished innings, and certainly his best-paced. If Tamim's role is being the batsman who the others bat around, this innings can be held up as the operational manual for that function.
“When I was batting in the 40s, I thought I was struggling,” Tamim said after the match when asked about that period. “But if I had gotten out then, we wouldn't have put up such a big score. You must have seen Mashrafe bhai coming outside [the dressing room] and telling me to play long.”
After Soumya Sarkar's dismissal, Tamim allowed the effervescent Sabbir Rahman to take charge of their partnership. The 90-run second-wicket stand had 12 boundaries, and Sabbir hit 10 of them while scoring 54. Tamim, meanwhile, scored 28 runs off 45 balls.
But being the anchor also means controlling the game, giving the innings the direction that is desired. In this too, Tamim brought his experience and game reading skills into play by choosing exactly the right moments to open the release valve.
Danushka Gunathilaka, a part-timer, had bowled two overs for eight runs as Bangladesh reached 154 after 30 overs. Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga's gamble to continue with Gunathilaka backfired. Tamim had judged him to be a non-threat and unleashed three inside-out cover drives for four.
Having corrected course, Tamim went on picking the singles. He must have been aware of Bangladesh's history of wasting strong positions and so delayed the charge until after he reached his century and Bangladesh had reached a position -- 229 for three after 42 overs -- from which even a collapse would leave them with a fighting score. He hit three boundaries and a six in his last 15 balls before holing out to long on in the 48th over of the innings.
It may not have been his fastest innings or contained the flurry of strokeplay he has come to be known for, but it was the innings that Bangladesh needed. It was also an innings made possible by Bangladesh's burgeoning quality, seen mainly in Sabbir's emergence and Shakib's continued brilliance.
“Shakib played a superb innings; if he got one or two more overs, he would have got a hundred too,” Tamim said about his partner.
But it was Tamim's day because he picked his moments to attack and defend. From a wider viewpoint, this being the first ODI of a series after a raft of missed ODIs in New Zealand, he picked the perfect moment to play a tide-turning innings.
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