London, March 21: England weathered a determined effort from Bangladesh’s spinners to lay the platform for a large first innings total after lunch on the second day at Mirpur.
Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen, both batting in unfamiliar positions, bunkered down patiently after Alastair Cook’s dismissal, and began to pick up the scoring rate once the frustration began to tell on Bangladesh’s bowlers.
Four of the five overs that England faced before lunch were bowled by spinners, and Shakib al Hasan retained that method of attack after the break. Shafiul Islam was used for four, luckless overs post-lunch, and that was the last that was seen of the seamers until Rubel Hossain was introduced in the 30th over.
Shakib’s choking application of the spinners to cut off the scoring opportunities appeared to work initially. Abdur Razzak bowled consecutive maidens at Trott, putting the pressure on Cook to keep the score ticking over. England’s captain responded with a slashing cut as Razzak pulled one down too short, but then slog-swept the same bowler straight to a perfectly-positioned deep midwicket. Imrul Kayes, the fielder who had been placed there for Cook from the very start of the innings, barely had to move, and England were wobbling slightly at 29 for 1.
Cook’s dismissal brought Pietersen to the crease and Shakib immediately opted for left-arm spin from both ends, with three fielders in close and Mushfiqur Rahim geeing up his side with a constant stream of encouragement from behind the stumps. Pietersen played out a tentative four maidens in a row from Shakib, and Trott was similarly circumspect as Bangladesh began to pile on the pressure.
Something eventually had to give, and Bangladesh should have had another wicket when Trott pressed half forward to Shakib and the ball took the inside edge of the bat and ricocheted off the pad towards Jahurul Islam at short leg. But the debutant missed the chance, and one sensed that from the point onwards the momentum started to shift back to England. In the very next over, Pietersen skipped down the track to launch Razzak over mid off, and the runs began to flow once more.
Bangladesh, who looked a somewhat deflated side by the time the tea interval came, had started the innings in a much more bubbly and effervescent mood after their positive batting performance this morning. Shafiul and Naeem Islam took advantage of a muddled plan of attack and a lack of communication between Cook and his bowlers to add 74 runs for the ninth wicket, and each brought up contrasting maiden half-centuries as Bangladesh reached 419.
Shafiul rode his luck in his 53, while Naeem, as the senior batsman, was far more circumspect, being content to wait for the bad ball. Shafiul got going with an airy flash down to the vacant third man region in the first over of the morning from Stuart Broad. It was a scenario that played out with grinding regularity as the day wore on, with Cook opting to protect both sides of the wicket – presumably as part of a plan to bowl at the stumps.
But if that was Cook’s plan then he was either badly let down by his bowlers or had failed to communicate it to them, as they repeatedly fired the ball at or outside off stump. With very little movement through the air or off the pitch and regular, if unspectacular, bounce in the wicket, Bangladesh’s lower order continually eased any pressure which had been built up by getting the ball down to third man – either off the edge or the face of the bat.
Shafiul brought up his fifty with a crunching biff over the covers off James Tredwell but was dismissed in the next over for 53, flashing with minimal foot movement at a wide delivery from Tim Bresnan to send an edge through to Matt Prior, who took a smart catch diving forward in front of first slip.
Naeem brought up his own half-century with yet another angled shot to third man shortly afterwards, and Rubel rubbed salt into England’s wounds by effortlessly driving Steven Finn through the covers with a checked drive to bring up the 400.
Swann was brought back into the attack and struck with the first ball of his second over, finding the edge of Rubel’s bat to end the innings. Bangladesh will have been pleased by their effort in making England toil so hard in the first session, but in the second it was their turn to face the trial of trying to take wickets on what remains a flat, true pitch.
——-Agencies