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| October 23, 2003 | Thursday | Sha’aban 26, 1424 |
Trescothick, Harmison put England in control
DHAKA, Oct 22: Paceman Stephen Harmison celebrated his birthday a day early with a five-wicket haul that helped England to a position of strength against Bangladesh in the first Test here on Wednesday.
Harmison, who celebrates his 25th birthday on Thursday, finished with an analysis of 5-35, his first five-for in 12 Tests as Bangladesh were bowled out for 203 at the stroke of tea.
In reply, England were a solid 111 without loss on a day when floodlights were needed in overcast conditions.
Left-hander Marcus Trescothick further tormented the home side by playing a stroke-filled knock of 77 which came with the help of 12 boundaries and a six, while captain Michael Vaughan was on 30 at close.
After his new-ball partner Matthew Hoggard troubled Bangladesh early in the second session, Harmison came back to help remove the tail with the second new ball.
The Durham seamer had earlier in the day dismissed overnight batsman Rajin Saleh and also accounted for the important scalps of opener Javed Omar and mainstay Habibul Bashar on the rain-hit first day.
England coach Duncan Fletcher was happy at his team’s performance and particularly that of Harmison.
“It was a fine effort by Harmison and I hope this five-for will go a long way in helping him develop as a good Test bowler,” said Fletcher. “He adjusted his length according to the need of the pitch.”
Fletcher said his team had worked hard in order to dominate.
“Seeing the humidity out there, I think it has been one of the harder days for our team.”
For Bangladesh, Khaled Mashud led a rearguard action with his maiden half-century in 22 Tests, thus improving on his previous best of 44 against Australia at Darwin earlier this year.
Mashud (51) put on 60 runs for the sixth wicket with Mushfiqur Rahman (34) and 34 with left-hander Mohammad Rafique (32) before falling leg before wicket to debutant Rikki Clarke.
Mashud, who was lucky to escape a difficult chance on 22 when Vaughan dropped him at mid-off off Hoggard, struck four fours in his 129-ball knock.
Hoggard also missed another wicket when Trescothick let off Rafique at first slip when the batsman had not opened his account. Rafique went on to regale the crowd by hitting three sixes in his cameo knock.
Hoggard took 3-55, his victims being opener Hannan Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahman and captain Khaled Mahmud, the last two trapped leg-before wicket in quick succession.
Earlier, debutant off-spinner Gareth Batty took a wicket in his first over in Test cricket when Alok Kapali shouldered arms and was clean bowled.
The second day’s play was rescheduled to 105 overs instead of the normal 90 in a bid to make up for the loss of play on the first day, but play had to be stopped due to bad light with five overs to go.
On the first day, only 15 overs were possible due to rain and the resultant wet conditions.
Bangladesh are still to register a Test win, having lost 23 of their first 24 Test matches, salvaging a draw against Zimbabwe two seasons ago.
Scoreboard
BANGLADESH (1st Innings):
Hannan Sarkar b Hoggard 20
Javed Omar c Clarke b Harmison 3
Habibul Bashar c Trescothick b Harmison 2
Rajin Saleh c Read b Harmison 11
Alok Kapali b Batty 28
Mushfiqur Rahman lbw b Hoggard 34
Khaled Mashud lbw b Clarke 51
Khaled Mahmud lbw b Hoggard 4
Mohammad Rafique b Harmison 32
Mashrafe Mortaza b Harmison 11
Enamul Haque Jr not out 0
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-3, NB-2) 7
TOTAL (all out, 83.5 overs) 203
FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-24, 3-38, 4-40, 5-72, 6-132, 7-148, 8-182, 9-198.
BOWLING: Hoggard 23-6-55-3 (1nb); Harmison 21.5-9-35-5 (1nb); Clarke 6-1-18-1; Batty 21-6-43-1; Giles 12-1-47-0.
ENGLAND (1st Innings):
M.E. Trescothick not out 77
M.P. Vaughan not out 30
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-1, NB-2) 4
TOTAL (for no wkt, 31 overs) 111
TO BAT: M.A. Butcher, N. Hussain, G.P. Thorpe, R. Clarke, C.M.W. Read, G.J. Batty, A.F. Giles, S.J. Harmison, M.J. Hoggard.
BOWLING (to-date): Mashrafe Mortaza 9-2-20-0 (2nb, 1w); Mushfiqur Rahman 5-2-23-0; Khaled Mahmud 6-4-11-0; Mohammad Rafique 8-0-33-0; Enamul Haque Jr 3-0-23-0.—AFP/Reuters
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