Story Bangladesh: From Minnows to Tigers! (End of England tour)

[Gaurav_7]

No hurries and no real worry. Take your time, worth it, the wait.

 

[Umair7]

nice story

 

[Fenil]

Wow man! Bangla tigers are giving a good fight to the English Lions. Very good read this. Keep up the good work, pal.

 

[qpeedore]

Playing conditions – Day 5

The spinners are going to enjoy bowling on this one. The footmarks are plentiful on either side of the wicket and it won’t be long before we see them in action. Once the swing goes, expect them to come into play and get among the wickets early and often.

The skies are cloudy but little chance of rain. That is hopefully true, because this match is well poised at the moment.

Play – Day 5

Bangladesh needed to dismiss England early on. They went about it the right way, with aggressive field settings and their seamers in operation.

Seam soon gave way to spin, however. That did not seem to bother either Pietersen or Weaver. They went about scoring at a quick rate and Pietersen soon overtook Weaver in terms of number of runs scored. Weaver was not to be denied, though, and he got to his century before Pietersen. The partnership was a tough one to break and the batsmen were scoring rapidly. They had added over a hundred runs in the first session before Weaver was run out for 116.

Kevin Pietersen played well in the first session


Despite Pietersen being on 93, England decided to declare with their lead at an even 300. Pietersen was not happy with Strauss and he walked off the field looking absolutely livid. He went right into the dressing room as the commentators switched their conversations over to whether or not Bangladesh would take the bait and go for the outright win. Some seemed to think they might. Others disagreed. What was sure was that Bangladesh had two sessions in which to get 301 for victory.

End of England innings - 433/8dec, Weaver 116, Sharif 3-71
Bangladesh need 301 runs to win

**********************************************
England v Bangladesh
1st Test Match - 6 May 2013
**********************************************

England - 2nd Innings
----------------------------------------------
A Cook          c Saleh b Al Hasan        26
A Strauss       b Sharif                  33
N Beasley       c M'udullah b Sharif      28
A Keen          lbw b Sharif              91
C Best          b M'udullah               29
A Weaver        run out                   116
K Pietersen     not out                   93
G Swann         not out                   9
S Broad         
G Onions        
J Anderson      
----------------------------------------------
Extras: (nb5,w2,lb1)                      8
TOTAL: (6 wkts, 121 overs)                433

**********************************************

                O       M       R       W
----------------------------------------------
D Mahmud        15      1       64      0
T Aziz          25      5       80      0
M Sharif        27      2       71      3
S Al Hasan      33      2       121     1
M Mahmudullah   21      2       96      1
----------------------------------------------
Fall of Wickets:
1-48  2-83  3-131  4-181  5-259  
6-420  

**********************************************

Tamim and Nafees came out to the middle after lunch. There was no evidence as to what they had in mind. England had wickets in mind and that was shown immediately when Tamim was bowled off of the very first ball of the innings. Bangladesh were 0 for 1.

Nafees showed his aggressive ability when he raced to 33 but he ended up being caught at midwicket with the score at 51. Some wondered if there would be a collapse in the making. But the first innings hero Saleh walked to the middle and a lot would rest on him.

His heroics would not be repeated this time around, however. He was well caught by Strauss in the slips for only 1 before Onions had Mahmadullah LBW to leave the visitors reeling at 62 for 4. Surely Bangladesh had no plans of victory in mind now.

Mahmadullah looks up at the umpire after being given out LBW

Hom and Shakib steadied their team somewhat and they looked set to steer Bangladesh out of trouble but Hom suffered an unfortunate blow as he tried to get out of the way of a ball from Anderson that reared up viciously. The ball hit Hom on the back of his head and he went down. The English fielders all ran to him and Shakib motioned for the medical personnel to come out onto the pitch as well. After several minutes it was clear that Hom was in no state to continue and he was helped off the field. He gave the fans a quick wave to some applause before he was helped into the dressing room.

A pair of Bangladesh fans look on, half frustrated, half concerned, as Shuvagoto Hom is helped off

Bangladesh went to tea at 107 for 4 but with Hom unlikely to take further part in the match as the commentators updated everyone on the news. Hom had actually lost consciousness for some time and he was being taken to the hospital for some scans.

Shakib got himself a well-played fifty soon after tea. He lost Nazimuddin soon after that, though. Swann got some vicious turn from the pitch and he was bowled for 22.

Nadimuddin was on a pair but he managed to avoid it and he survived several shouts for catches behind the wicket and LBWs. The important thing was that he hung in there and by the time he was eventually out for 25, there was only about 20 minutes to go in the match.

Aziz was no mug with the bat and Shakib was confident enough in his ability to let him face the bowling. The match ended in a draw but it was a match which Bangladesh would have taken a lot more positives than negatives from.

End of Bangladesh innings - 206/6, Al Hasan 86*, Onions 3-28
Match drawn

**********************************************
England v Bangladesh
1st Test Match - 6 May 2013
**********************************************

Bangladesh - 2nd Innings
----------------------------------------------
T Iqbal         b Broad                   0
S Nafees        c Strauss b Onions        33
M Mahmudullah   lbw b Onions              13
R Saleh         c Strauss b Broad         1
S Al Hasan      not out                   86
S Hom           rtrd ht                   16
N Nazimuddin    b Swann                   22
N Nadimuddin    c Swann b Onions          25
T Aziz          not out                   3
D Mahmud        
M Sharif        
----------------------------------------------
Extras: (nb4,w1,lb2)                      7
TOTAL: (6 wkts, 60 overs)                 206

**********************************************

                O       M       R       W
----------------------------------------------
S Broad         17      3       75      2
J Anderson      15      2       32      0
G Onions        9       0       28      3
G Swann         19      2       69      1
----------------------------------------------
Fall of Wickets:
1-0  2-51  3-52  4-62  5-141  
6-194  

**********************************************

Both teams shake hands with each other and the umpires. Most people take an especially long time when they get to Saleh, congratulating him on his achievement. Before long, the post-match ceremony was about to get underway.

Strauss speaks first. He says that 301 was a score that he thought Bangladesh would go for, and they definitely seemed as if they wanted to get the win. However with the loss of a few quick wickets, they settled into defense and the English bowlers could not get through those defenses. He expresses a lot of praise concerning the fight that the Bangladeshis put up, considering their low ranking in the world, and he says that it is a team that has improved greatly since the teams' last series together.

Saleh is next. He says that he would have liked to win, but 301 in just two sessions is a tough ask and unfortunately they had lost some early wickets, which put thought of victory out of their minds. Despite that, he is proud of his team's performance in the match, but says that there is still room for a lot of improvement in some areas. He thinks that they still have problems bowling a team out consistently.

Saleh is also announced as the Man of the Match. He says that he does not like to discuss individual efforts, but his double was something that he always knew he could achieve if he set his mind to it. He was in good batting form recently, and to become the first Bangladeshi batsman to get to 200 was an honour, and he is humbled to go down in cricketing history in his country. He just hopes that in the future, his team can continue to improve so that these individual accomplishments all add up to consistent wins.

The ceremony ends with a shot of both teams clapping Saleh as he walks off. Strauss again walks up and congratulates him before he is swarmed by his teammates and the scene fades out to a video highlight package of the match.

A draw, but a draw I'm proud of. Good fight shown by the Tigers. It gives me hope.

User2010 has credit for the banner. And embarrassment is nothing!

The next Test sees both teams with all to play for. Stay tuned for the preview in a few days' time!

 

[qpeedore]

The real world is way too hectic these days. But I'm not giving up on this story or you guys who follow it.

BangladeshCricket.com match preview

If England expected this series to be easily won, they got a major shock in the first Test. Batting records tumbled as the Bangladeshis built a mammoth first innings total and Rajin Saleh became the first Bangladeshi to score a double ton. Their bowling still lacks the total penetration to take 20 wickets in a match on a consistent basis, and their batting order also is prone to some spectacular collapses at inopportune times.

That being said, it was heartening to see the theoretically weaker team give their English counterparts a brilliant fight that went right into the last day. Things are looking bright for Bangladesh, and they could very well walk away from this one as the victors. England were warned in the first Test. This second Test proves to be an extremely important match and no doubt all eyes will be glued to the action from the very first ball.

Playing conditions

This pitch is absolutely flat. A shame, really, that the groundsman prepared such a track. This pitch might be more suited to an ODI or a T20, because batsmen will settle right in and not be afraid to play their shots.

The bounce is on the low side of things, which means that those who prefer to get onto the front foot will relish facing the bowlers. Those same bowlers might be in for a long, hard, and ultimately unrewarding match.

Skies are forecast to be cloudy throughout the match but rain is unlikely to play a part at any time.

Squads


England
Alastair Cook (Bat)
Andrew Strauss (CAPT ? Bat)
Nick Beasly (WK)
Andy Keen (Bat)
Chris Best (Bat)
Aaron Weaver (Bat)
Kevin Pietersen (Bat)
Stuart Broad (Bowl)
Graham Onions (Bowl)
James Anderson (Bowl)
Ryan Sidebottom (Bowl)

England have surprisingly left out their top spinner Graeme Swann for this match. That might prove to be a bad choice in the end, but perhaps the team management knows something that nobody else does.

Watch out for

Andy Keen ? He was brilliant with the bat in the last match and just missed out on back-to-back centuries. Clearly he is the man in form and there is a lot of expectation on him in this match.

James Anderson ? He had a wonderful match last time, picking up 7 wickets for a great performance. Coming into this one he has everyone looking at him and he has shown that he can live up to the hype.


Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal (Bat)
Shahriar Nafees (Bat)
Mohammed Mahmadullah (All)
Rajin Saleh (CAPT ? Bat)
Shakib Al Hasan (All)
Naeem Islam (All)
Nazimuddin (Bat)
Nadimuddin (WK)
Tareq Aziz (Bowl)
Dolar Mahmud (Bowl)
Mohammed Sharif (Bowl)

Shuvagoto Hom sits this one out. Official word is that he still suffers headaches from his horrific blow to the head in the last match. He is unlikely to take further part in the tour, more as a safety measure than a real injury. Naeem Islam has a chance to step up and make some runs in the middle order.

Watch out for

Shakib Al Hasan ? He put out a top all-round performance with two fifties and some wickets in the first Test and will look to make sure that his name is on everyone?s minds for some time to come.

Rajin Saleh ? Speaking of being on everyone?s minds, his double was nothing short of magical for a Bangladesh team that has started to show the world what they can do. His team will look to him to lead from the front once again.

The toss

Saleh won the toss and decided to bat without hesitating. It looked like a flat pitch and he wanted to put up a big first innings total and take things from there. As for news about Hom, he says that thankfully nothing serious has happened to him but he still has headaches and the medical staff suggested that he not play for a couple of weeks. He is unlikely to take part in the rest of the tour, but he will be back in action before long.

Strauss is noticeably disappointed about bowling first but he hopes to take some quick wickets while the new ball is swinging. He figures that there isn?t much in the pitch for the spinners so Swann has to sit out. If any spin is needed, they have a few occasional spinners that can handle it.

First day's play up tomorrow or Wednesday hopefully.

 

[Fenil]

Man, England are taking Bangladesh too lightly. What is Kevin doing at number 7. If he's playing, he should be in top 4 irrespective of his form. I can sense Bangla victory here.

 

[qpeedore]

Play ? Day 1

Broad and Onions opened the bowling and were right on target. The ball was swinging just enough to make the batsmen cautious and they played as such. The runs came mostly in singles for a long time, with the occasional couple. It was not until the 10th over when Tamim decided that enough was enough and he let his bat fly at a couple of wider deliveries. Both went to the boundary behind point.

That moment changed things radically and Nafees became more aggressive as well. Suddenly England found themselves protecting the boundary instead of looking for wickets. The field spread and the batsmen responded by just rotating the strike as much as possible.

A pair of Bangladeshi fans are happy to see their team in a scoring mood

Strauss would have been regretting the decision to not play a specialist spinner and he brought Cook into the attack before lunch in an attempt to stem the flow of runs. That was not the best decision in the world and Cook?s 4 overs before lunch went for 32 runs. The last over before lunch, Cook would have thought he had gotten his first ever Test wicket, but his LBW shout was turned down. Hawkeye showed that the ball did not turn enough to hit the stumps and would have slid down the leg side. Tamim responded the very next ball by pulling him through midwicket for four to bring up Test fifty number 17. Bangladesh went to lunch at 95 for no loss.

After lunch things continued to go the batsmen?s way. Nafees brought up his own fifty with a lofted off drive that mid off thought he would have a chance at catching. In fact the ball went way over his head on its way for four.

Tamim Iqbal, pictured, and Shahriar Nafees frustrated the English fielders

The openers went about their business with ruthless efficiency and nothing the bowlers did could stop them. Soon enough the two batsmen had broken the all-time opening stand for Bangladesh of 166, and they just kept going on.

It seemed like it was a race between the two as they entered the 90s within the space of an over. Tamim was the first one to his century, with an on drive all along the ground for four. That shot also brought up the 200 partnership between the two men.

Nafees would not get to his century, however. He was agonizingly close but while on 99 he tried to turn one through square leg but missed and the ball hit him on the pads. He was right in front of the stumps and the umpire did not have a hard decision to make. He walked off shaking his head as he looked up at the replay on the big screen. No doubt he would have had about ten different shots in his head at that time that he could have played instead of the one he did. But Bangladesh had lost their first wicket for 214.

Mahmadullah would not last very long in the middle and Bangladesh would have been unhappy about losing two wickets just before tea. Anderson simply bowled a straight ball to him that beat the bat and took him on the pads for another LBW.

James Anderson successfully appeals for Mahmadullah's wicket

Bangladesh went to tea at 218 for 2. Tamim was unbeaten on 108 and Saleh was yet to score.

After losing two quick wickets before tea, Bangladesh started the final session of the day a little cautiously. Tamim looked like he was itching to get things going again and he ended up losing his wicket that way after attempting a horrible shot to Broad to be out for yet another LBW. He went for 116.

Broad was bowling a good spell and he soon accounted for the wicket of Shakib, who could not cope with a shorter one and hit it right to short midwicket for an easy catch. 245 for 4 and Bangladesh were letting their great start slip away.

Saleh was looking good but Islam did not make a lot of runs before falling LBW to Onions for 16. To Onions? credit, he was getting the ball to reverse nicely and the batsman was genuinely beaten by a great delivery.

Graham Onions celebrates the big wicket of Rajin Saleh

With the old ball swinging so much, some doubted that England would take the new ball when it was due but they did. Some commentators thought it was the wrong decision. Bangladesh seemed to prove just that by coping with the conventional swing and playing each ball on its merit. Just when things were looking like they would not lose any further wickets for the day, they did manage to lose one. Saleh had been looking good but he was bowled by one from Broad that was pitched a little fuller and given more time to swing. He went for 43.

Nazimuddin and Nadimuddin took their team to the end of the day without much trouble and they ended with a decent score on the board.

End of Day 1 ? Bangladesh 312/6, Iqbal 116, Broad 3-84

User2010 has his ever-present credit for the awesome banner. Yes, I know it takes me several weeks between matches. This is nobody's fault but mine. Hectic life or not, I really need to find the time to update things a little more. I could be so much further into this story by now! Especially with Bangladesh performing so well against a team like England, ranked very highly in ICC 2010 at the moment.

 

[Fenil]

Very good score. Still have 4 wickets to go so should score more than 350.
Iqbal played a gem of an innings.

 

[Gaurav_7]

That's a fantastic day for the Tigers. Tamim is such a talent! I am hoping for them to score at least 400 from here on if they survive the initial period of day 2. Yeah, you pay the price for not picking the spinner. Lol at Cook bowling.

 

[qpeedore]

Playing conditions ? Day 2

The pitch continues to be a demon to bowlers and a paradise to batsmen. Some of the Bangladeshi batsmen showed that yesterday and really the wickets that fell were all due to the ball moving in the air or the batsman losing concentration. Bangladesh need to press their total as much as possible in order to put England on the back foot from the start when they get their chance to bat.

Play ? Day 2

Nazimuddin and his almost-namesake Nadimuddin started the day positively, looking to score some fast runs. They succeeded more often than not and really the only mistake that was made led to the downfall of Nadimuddin. He missed his cover drive and the ball hit the pads to leave him hoping that the umpire would keep his finger down. That did not happen and he was soon walking back to the pavilion for 42.

Andrew Strauss applauds his bowler after the dismissal of Nadimuddin

Aziz made 10 runs including 2 fours before he edged Onions to the keeper to give England their 8th Bangladesh wicket for 387. Nazimuddin realized that he was running out of partners and he tried to farm the strike, but Mahmud could not cope with the little that he was facing and he gave Onions his 4th wicket of the innings when he edged to the slips. Nazimuddin himself was the last man out, caught by Strauss for 43. Bangladesh had a fairly decent score but they would have wanted more for certain.

End of Bangladesh innings ? 394/10, Iqbal 116, Onions 5-72

**********************************************
England v Bangladesh
2nd Test Match - 14 May 2013
**********************************************

Bangladesh - 1st Innings
----------------------------------------------
T Iqbal         lbw b Broad               116
S Nafees        lbw b Anderson            99
M Mahmudullah   lbw b Anderson            2
R Saleh         b Broad                   43
S Al Hasan      c Pietersen b Broad       7
N Islam         lbw b Onions              16
N Nazimuddin    c Strauss b Onions        43
N Nadimuddin    lbw b Onions              42
T Aziz          c Beasley b Onions        10
D Mahmud        c Cook b Onions           2
M Sharif        not out                   1
----------------------------------------------
Extras: (nb6,w1,b4,lb2)                   13
TOTAL: (all out, 109.5 overs)             394

**********************************************

                O       M       R       W
----------------------------------------------
S Broad         32      4       127     3
J Anderson      26      6       84      2
G Onions        23.5    3       72      5
R Sidebottom    20      3       57      0
A Cook          6       0       40      0
A Strauss       2       0       8       0
----------------------------------------------
Fall of Wickets:
1-214  2-216  3-237  4-245  5-276  
6-306  7-377  8-387  9-393  10-394

**********************************************

England had about 20 minutes to go before lunch and Bangladesh went all out in attack right away. It worked just 2 runs into England?s innings when Strauss edged one to Nadimuddin for a duck. Beasley refused to be tempted by those balls in the spot right outside of off stump and he and Cook survived until lunch, going in with the score at 3 for 1.

England came out after lunch prepared to play their shots and that was exactly what they did. They forced the Bangladeshi bowlers to rethink their lines and lengths. Sharif struggled to adjust but Mahmud fared better, bowling a fuller line and eventually forcing Beasley into a mistake. After bowling outswingers for some time the trap was set perfectly and Beasley was not expecting the inswinger. By the time he had jammed his bat down, the ball had hit the pads and the finger was being raised. England were 42 for 2 at that time.

Bangladesh seemed to be getting something from the pitch that was just enough to trouble England and they soon had another wicket, this time the wicket of Cook, edging Shakib to silly point for 28. Aziz added another wicket for Bangladesh a few overs later, getting the dangerous Keen LBW for 23. England were in a little trouble at 85 for 4 with about 15 minutes to go until tea. Thankfully for them they lost no further wickets before the break and they went into the hut at 91 for the same 4.

Shakib Al Hasan roars after taking the wicket of Alastair Cook

Mahmud bowled the first over after the interval and he struck just three balls into it, bowling Best and sending the off stump cartwheeling. A lot rested on Pietersen?s shoulders as he came to the middle and he promptly counterattacked Bangladesh, hitting 3 fours to get his strike rate above 100 early on. But with his score at 15, Shakib bowled a faster flatter ball that was clearly unexpected and Pietersen was found to be right in front of middle stump. England had lost their 6th wicket for 116.

Another huge roar from Shakib as Pietersen is given out

As much as Broad claimed that he was a batsman, the fact remained that he was in the team for his bowling at the time and he could only manage 13 runs before Mahmud got his 4th wicket by getting him LBW. England still needed 58 runs to avoid the follow on and only 3 wickets in hand. They had Weaver still in the middle, however, and a lot would rest on him if that was to happen.

Weaver farmed the strike as much as possible and Onions seemed to grow in confidence with each shot that he played as well. After many hard overs with Bangladesh attacking with full force, they were unable to keep England from getting to the 195 that they needed.

Graham Onions enjoyed his batting as he settled in

Weaver got his fifty two overs before the close of the day?s play with a single to mid on and England would have been happy with their comeback.

End of Day 2 ? England 216/7, Weaver 55*, Mahmud 4-58

 

[Fenil]

Good match this. Who is the batsman in the last image?

 

[qpeedore]

I assumed it was Onions. It looks like him...unless Google image search steered me wrong...

 

[qpeedore]

Playing conditions ? Day 3

Bangladesh really should not be getting the sort of assistance from the pitch that they did yesterday. True, there are some small cracks around and the footmarks are getting more prominent, but England batted poorly and they gave wickets away.

Play ? Day 3

Bangladesh were looking for wickets but England were looking to defy them. Onions continued to show the top order how to bat on this pitch and he eventually got to his first Test fifty about an hour into the day?s play.

Bangladesh needed something to happen and they took the new ball immediately. Five overs in, Mahmud struck by bowling Onions with one that swung into him. He went for a well-played 66 and many England fans showed their appreciation for his innings. The Bangladeshis showed their appreciation to Mahmud, who had achieved yet another 5-wicket haul in Tests.

Aziz soon had himself the wicket of Weaver, out LBW for 90. Weaver looked similar to Nafees from Bangladesh?s innings but he raised his bat as the fans applauded him. He knew that he was integral to England avoiding the follow on.

The last wicket pair frustrated Bangladesh and showed just how good the pitch was for batting until Shakib finally ended things for England by having Anderson caught by Saleh at slip.

End of England innings ? 337/10, Weaver 90, Mahmud 5-93

**********************************************
England v Bangladesh
2nd Test Match - 14 May 2013
**********************************************

England - 1st Innings
----------------------------------------------
A Cook          c Mahmud b Al Hasan       28
A Strauss       c Nadimuddin b Mahmud     0
N Beasley       lbw b Mahmud              16
A Keen          lbw b Aziz                23
C Best          b Mahmud                  12
A Weaver        lbw b Aziz                90
K Pietersen     lbw b Al Hasan            15
S Broad         lbw b Mahmud              13
G Onions        b Mahmud                  66
J Anderson      c Saleh b Al Hasan        19
R Sidebottom    not out                   25
----------------------------------------------
Extras: (nb8,w2,b16,lb4)                  30
TOTAL: (all out, 105.5 overs)             337

**********************************************

                O       M       R       W
----------------------------------------------
D Mahmud        33      9       93      5
M Sharif        29      6       85      0
T Aziz          23      5       81      2
S Al Hasan      20.5    3       58      3
----------------------------------------------
Fall of Wickets:
1-2  2-42  3-61  4-85  5-92  
6-116  7-136  8-277  9-285  10-337

**********************************************

Bangladesh had a lead of 57 and they wanted to extend that lead as far as possible. They started off well, being careful with their shot selections and ensuring that no wickets fell before tea. They went into the pavilion at 41 for no wicket.

After tea, Bangladesh looked just as careful as they did before but after Nafees got to fifty he unleashed his shots. Tamim was never one to see the ball flying without he having something to do with it himself and he flung his bat as well, getting to fifty in quick time.

The partnership passed 100 and continued to look great. There was the occasional false shot but generally speaking the two men went about their business effectively. They dealt in boundaries mostly and Tamim soon overtook his partner.

He got to his second century of the match with a streaky shot that peeled off of the outside edge for a four to the third man boundary. Eventually England got the breakthrough with 3 overs to go in the day, Tamim falling to Anderson for 105.

Bangladesh sent in Aziz as nightwatchman and he and Nafees negotiated the final few overs well before play ended for the day. Nafees was unbeaten on 97 and he would hope more than anyone that he would get to his century in the morning.

End of Day 3 ? Bangladesh 211/1, Iqbal 105, Anderson 1-31

User2010 has eternal and ever-awesome-amazing-et-cetera credit for the great banner.

YES...no real graphics. I was forced to leave them out in this update. Not that I didn't have the time, but simply that I couldn't get graphics to fit these guys. Half of my Bangladeshi team have never actually played Test cricket long enough to have decent pictures of them up, and the guys that are performing for England are...fictional. So...yeah. My apologies, but it was coming at some point, and I warned you guys from very early on that this would happen.

Anyway, the match looks set for a Bangladesh domination (I can't believe I just said that!) and if they perform well, this match is theirs for the taking.

 

[Fenil]

I assumed it was Onions. It looks like him...unless Google image search steered me wrong...

Nah, Onions is a right hander.

 

[qpeedore]

Playing conditions ? Day 4

The pitch is finally starting to wear a little but there is nothing that should bother the batsmen too much, really. It remains great for batting and horrible for bowling.

Play ? Day 4

The talk of the morning was whether Nafees would go on to make his century or not. He was on 99 when he lost Aziz and it would probably have made his heart skip a few beats as he saw his partner play a similar shot to his own shot from the first innings that had gotten him out.

Mahmadullah got off the mark first ball with a single and Nafees took strike as he surveyed the field. The next ball took the edge but fell well short of the slips and Nafees took several deep breaths before taking strike again. He played one into the onside next ball and took off for the single that brought up a well-played century.

He relaxed a great deal after that and together with Mahmadullah, took the score onto 269 for 2 before rain stopped play for 40 minutes. They came back out and looked to score quickly before lunch. The boundaries rained down on England and the fielders soon stood well back. Bangladesh went to lunch at 296 for 2 with Mahmadullah needing 2 more for a fifty.

Mahmadullah and Nafees upped the scoring before lunch

After lunch Mahmadullah brought up that fifty with a cover driven six that just sailed into the stands. Pure timing from the Bangladeshi and he was elated to get there. At the other end, Nafees passed his highest Test score of 138 and never looked back for a moment.

It took a great ball from Broad to get Nafees out. He bowled one short of a length and the ball just hit a crack to keep low. Nafees could not bring his bat down in time and he lost his off stump for 145 after a 119-run partnership with Mahmadullah.

Stuart Broad is happy to finally send Nafees back

Saleh only made 6 before being bowled by Anderson and Shakib did not last long in the middle either, falling to the same bowler later on in the over after hitting 5 runs.

Mahmadullah kept on going, however, and he soon got to a good hundred with a single to deep square leg. His century came in rapid time, off of only 116 balls and his teammates applauded him from the sidelines.

Bangladesh went to tea at 407 for 5, an overall lead of 464. Many wondered when the declaration would come.

After tea, the message seemed to be get runs as quickly as possible and Bangladesh did just that. They lost Islam along the way but Mahmadullah knew exactly how to switch gears and he just kicked everything into high speed despite already steaming along.

By the time Nazimuddin was out for 11, the lead had passed 500 and Saleh called his men inside.

End of Bangladesh innings ? 458/7dec, Nafees 145, Anderson 4-122

**********************************************
England v Bangladesh
**********************************************

Bangladesh - 2nd Innings
----------------------------------------------
T Iqbal         b Anderson                105
S Nafees        b Broad                   145
T Aziz          lbw b Broad               6
M Mahmudullah   not out                   137
R Saleh         b Anderson                6
S Al Hasan      lbw b Anderson            5
N Islam         lbw b Broad               31
N Nazimuddin    c Beasley b Anderson      11
N Nadimuddin    
D Mahmud        
M Sharif        
----------------------------------------------
Extras: (nb2,w2,b4,lb4)                   12
TOTAL: (7 wkts, 105.4 overs)              458

**********************************************

                O       M       R       W
----------------------------------------------
S Broad         33      0       141     3
J Anderson      30.4    2       122     4
G Onions        21      2       102     0
R Sidebottom    16      1       54      0
A Cook          4       0       24      0
A Strauss       1       0       7       0
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Fall of Wickets:
1-201  2-219  3-338  4-357  5-363  
6-427  7-458  

**********************************************

England had 516 runs to get in order to win. That would have been in the back of their minds, and it was a big juicy carrot that dangled in front of them. With more than a day to go, a couple of good sessions could very well turn the tide of the match and cause England to chase the highest ever successful 4th innings total, against a weaker team, but a record is still a record.

Bangladesh were in an unlikely position and they needed to prove to the world that they could take all 10 wickets and win matches. The pitch was against them and in their minds they would think of all the times in the past when they came so close but just could not get there in the end.

With 18 overs to go in the day?s play, the message would be clear to the Bangladeshis from their coaching staff. Get wickets.

And that they did. They were right on the spot from the start and England struggled to cope. Mahmud and Aziz were getting the ball to swing at good pace and it was too much for Cook, who was out LBW in the 3rd over without a run on the board. Bangladesh were underway.

Alastair Cook walks off, disappointed at being out for duck

Strauss decided to attack but his first few runs were unconvincing. First he edged one for four past the slips before miscuing another one that the man at backward point could only get a hand to but not catch.

Eventually Strauss settled and he started to play more confidently. Bangladesh had runs to play with, and they kept the field up, almost tempting the batsmen to try to go over them. Strauss took the bait more often than not, and he succeeded more often than not. But he took one chance too many and tried to play one into the onside but the ball took the edge and settled into Nadimuddin?s gloves for Bangladesh?s second wicket.

With 2 overs to go in the day, many expected a nightwatchman, but Keen walked to the middle and took strike instead of someone like Anderson. With the light fading and the ball swinging, some doubted his decision but he handled the few balls well and England went inside at 54 for 2.

End of Day 4 ? England 54/2, Strauss 38, Mahmud 1-24

All to play for on the final day.

Another request...I need more people who can do graphics! User2010 has already contributed a great deal with a simple yet effective banner.

I can add so much more to the story if I've got more than just pictures of players. Scorecards are something I really want to see in a graphical format. I will flat out say that these Photoshop things have me VERY muddled and I'm not an expert at it. I write...that's what I do. Everyone knows their strengths. Maybe yours is graphics.

Anyone? PM me PLEASE. This story is as much for you as it is for me. You wanted graphics. I want to give you that. But I honestly can't do it alone. As a bonus I will be more than willing to help with the writing aspect of any story (cricket or otherwise) if you so desire.