Tamim Iqbal and Ben Stokes locked horns in an on-pitch altercation

The pre-encounter banters headed in favour of the Asian side after they had defeated the Three Lions in the last World Cup. But in the crucial Group A match, England wanted to get their hands on the Tigers’ in order to enhance their chance at an ICC victory on home soil after failing to win the title way back in the year 2013 where they lost to the Indian side led by MS Dhoni.

Tamim Iqbal continued his initial fireworks deep into the later part of the match against England’s Ben Stokes. The southpaw’s innings of 128 against England was a crucial one as Bangladesh posted a challenging total of 305/6 in their 50 overs in the Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy.

The mid-pitch altercation

The left-handed batsman brought up his ninth career ton and also had an on-pitch altercation with England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes. It began when Stokes threw a barrage of words at Tamim. On the next ball, he approached the southpaw to unsettle him on his follow-through, the Bangladeshi player paid no heed to the verbal sledging and told the all-rounder to find his way back to the popping crease.

Tamim trashed the English bowlers to all parts of the pitch, alongside former skipper Mushfiqur Rahim to lead the Tigers’ to a competitive total to defend against the likes of Joe Root and co. The pair added 166 runs in 25.1 overs to hand a crucial advantage to the challengers.

Bangladesh did not miss the opportunity to put up a good total after a steady start without the loss of any wicket before they reached a total of 50 runs. Since the loss of four wickets, it looked like Bangladesh were crashing down to a total of under 300 runs after the initial push but the middle-order batsman Sabbir Rahman’s knock of 24 made the Tigers’ look no further.

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— Ashok Dinda (@lKR1088) June 1, 2017