Tamim sparks another revolt 10 years later
Bangladesh fronted up from the minute they stepped on to the field. Unfortunately, that was at the toss, when Mashrafe Mortaza decided to take on one of the most potent bowling attacks at the tournament and try to set a target - even with the prospect of rain later in the day potentially helping the chasing side by shortening the game. It was a bold move, and Bangladesh's openers walked out into a cauldron of adulation cooked up by the local diaspora, but word was not backed by deed.
Mashrafe knew the challenge before his team, knew that they had only beaten Australia once in their history (and knew what that felt like, having played in that famous game in Cardiff in 2005). Bangladesh were more assertive in their team selection, bringing in Mehedi Hasan instead of the batting allrounder Mosaddek Hossain, and Mashrafe - perhaps hoping that the spin of Mehedi and Shakib Al Hasan would have greater effect defending a total on a used surface - chose to meet Australia head on under glowering south London skies.
Even more so than during the tournament opener against England, The Oval's teal seats were turned a darker shade of green by Bangladesh fans swamping the ground. The crowd erupted when the first runs flew to fine leg from the third ball of the innings, never mind that they came off Tamim Iqbal's pad. There was almost as much noise when Tamim slid the next delivery down to third man for a single.
It was Tamim who carried Bangladesh's hopes for most of the afternoon, channelling the ebb and flow of crowd excitement manfully to give his side something to bowl at. His 95 was an innings of staccato bursts, an insurgent operation of rat-a-tat salvoes against an overwhelming opponent, and it was no surprise that his dismissal brought about an abrupt finish, the last four wickets falling for one run in 15 balls.
Since the 2015 World Cup, Tamim's form has been imperious, his average touching 60. He fell just short of back-to-back Champions Trophy hundreds, though this was arguably a more impressive innings than against England, given the quality of the bowling, the slowness of the pitch and, most notably, the lack of support. He was certainly not overawed in taking on Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, though nor could he wrest destiny back into Bangladeshi hands.
He had 2 off 13 balls when he first sprung into life, stepping out to thrash Hazlewood off a length back down the ground - nearly taking out his opening partner, Soumya Sarkar, in the process. Again the crowd exploded, as they would do when a drive and a cut against Starc flew to the rope in the following over. But Australia were able to sit on him for periods, capitalising on his lack of strike rotation while taking wickets at the other end.
The boundaries dried up for Bangladesh and Tamim's next block of scoring saw him add 19 off 42 while losing three partners for single-figure scores - although Mushfiqur Rahim was perhaps unlucky to be given out lbw when technology picked up an inside edge (he chose not to review). Only during a spunky 69-run stand between Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan did Bangladesh have a batsman looking to be positive at both ends.
Tamim cut loose again with 15 off five balls from Moises Henriques, then withdrew to his bunker before firing another volley with back-to-back sixes off Travis Head. But a wicket followed in the same over when Shakib was given out lbw by Nigel Llong off Head, despite being well down the pitch; DRS backed up the decision on umpire's call but Shakib could probably feel a little unlucky since the ball had struck him only fractionally in line.
The portents, much like those for rain later in the day, were clear. But still the crowd implored their heroes to pull something out of the fire. Chants of "Ban-gla-desh! Ban-gla-desh! Ban-gla-desh!" rose once again when Tamim took on Cummins' 90mph heat-seekers, pulling his ninth and final boundary before skipping out and trying to bludgeon the next ball through mid-off. A top-edged pull off Hazlewood evaded mid-on when he had 76 - as had a similar miscue on 16 - and the weight of Australia's greater resources began to bear down as Adam Zampa, held back until the 35th over, struck twice in 11 balls. Then came Starc's crushing finale.
Ten years on from his role in Bangladesh's famous World Cup upset of India, Tamim had done his best to spark a similar revolt against the prevailing order. Mashrafe had asked his batsmen to attack so his bowlers could defend - but only three made double-figures and none came close to bettering Tamim's strike rate of 83.33. Rain ultimately threw bedraggled Bangladesh a lifeline, the return of the covers for the final time on a wet evening drawing one last cheer from the men and women in green; but they will need more than fervent support and a lone hand against New Zealand in Cardiff.