Sri Lanka 537 & 5/0 (3.0 ov)
Zimbabwe 373
Sri Lanka lead by 169 runs with 10 wickets remaining
A fantastic rearguard effort from Zimbabwe's middle and lower order, led by Graeme Cremer's maiden Test ton, helped the hosts avoid the follow-on and post 373 after they had slumped to 139 for 6 in the morning. Peter Moor put his wicketkeeping woes behind him to contribute with an 84-ball 79 and Donald Tiripano struck a composed 46.
Cremer, batting at No. 8, played an attritional Test innings, waiting for anything overpitched. He received plenty such deliveries and drove elegantly to accrue seven of his ten boundaries through mid-off and extra cover. His timing was superlative and placement impeccable, important requisites for boundary scoring.
The highlight of Cremer's innings was his discipline with straight-bat strokes, even if the ball was short or wide. He milked the spinners, particularly with the spin to long-on or square on the leg side.
On 58, Cremer was dropped at backward square leg by Asela Gunaratne. Other than that opportunity, Cremer looked impregnable with a tight defense - bat close to body, head over the ball and a good judgement of which balls to play at and which to leave. Such was his fluency that his hundred never looked in doubt as long as he didn't run out of partners. Suspense arose around the ground when he needed No. 11 Chris Mpofu to block out one delivery from Rangana Herath.
Zimbabwe's plan for day four: "We ideally want to slow the game down a little bit. We'll go with in-out fields tomorrow; we don't want them to score too quickly and then we have too much time to bat, because we think that tomorrow the wicket might get quite tough to bat on."
Moor was more selective in his choice of shots, opting to loft the spinners straight as opposed to opting for cross-bat strokes. He used his feet effectively and hit the slower bowlers through the line in the arc between long-off and long-on. When the bowlers compensated with a shorter length, the cut shot was productive.
He reached his fifty off 49 balls, thereby forcing Herath to dispatch fielders to the boundary. At one point, Herath had five deep fielders off his own bowling.
Just when Moor looked set for his maiden Test ton, debutant Lahiru Kumara worked him over with a pair of outstanding bouncers on a slow pitch. The first, directed at the neck, caused Moor to fend awkwardly. The ball lobbed over slip for four. Two balls later, another well-directed bouncer accounted for Moor. The ball ballooned up off the glove and gully raced in to complete a low catch, Kumara's first Test wicket and Sri Lanka's only one of the session.
Kumara continued to trouble the batsmen with extra oomph in a testing spell. Cremer survived a nasty moment when Kumara's bouncer hit and subsequently detached his helmet, which fell perilously close to the stumps.
He added 92 with No. 9 Donald Tiripano, who was equally adept at keeping out the straight deliveries and accumulating runs against Sri Lanka's tiring spinners. Against the run of play, Tiripano missed a straight one from part-timer Kusal Mendis - it was Mendis' first wicket in first-class cricket.
Despite the lower-order fightback, Sri Lanka still retained control of the Test. They would have been pleasantly surprised with the conditions that greeted them on the third morning. After the Harare surface offered nothing to seam or spin on the first two days, it started to behave differently. Variable bounce, pace and enough lateral movement for the seamers helped Sri Lanka run through Zimbabwe's middle order in a five-wicket morning session.
Overnight batsmen Tino Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza began the day with staunch defence, even with low bounce evident from the second ball of the morning. Mawoyo was uncertain against the short ball on the second evening, and Suranga Lakmal exploited that weakness by repeatedly employing the bouncer. Some flew off the surface, some looped to the keeper.
In the fifth over of the day, a bouncer hustled Mawoyo for pace and an attempted pull resulted in a top-edge, which was taken by square leg placed halfway to the boundary.
Sean Williams and Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe's best batsmen, were visibly disconcerted by the bounce and chose to sweep Rangana Herath. Both batsmen struck boundaries but the stroke was always fraught with risk on this pitch. Williams attempted a hard sweep off Herath but the ball bounced extra and took the leading edge, which was snaffled at deep square leg. Zimbabwe had lost their third wicket of the day inside 12 overs, the second off a top edge.
Dilruwan Perera capped an excellent morning for Sri Lanka with two lbws, both non-turning offbreaks. Ervine missed a straight delivery, his pad interfering with the bat's contact with the ball. Malcolm Waller went back to what he thought was a long-hop, but the ball skidded on and beat his pull.
Monday 31 October 2016
Sunday 30 October 2016
1st Test Day 2 ZIM V SL
Sri Lanka 537
Zimbabwe 88/1
Zimbabwe trail by 449 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
For a brief period on the second morning, Zimbabwe made run-scoring look strenuous. For the rest of the day, Sri Lanka's batsmen enjoyed a placid Harare surface and a tiring bowling attack to pile on 537. Upul Tharanga, displaying admirable patience, reaped the most rewards on the second day to score to his second Test ton, an unbeaten 110.
In reply, Zimbabwe's batsmen had to survive a tricky 23 overs before stumps. They were positive from the outset, particularly against Rangana Herath, and finished the second day at 88 for 1. The batsmen regularly shimmied down the track and opted to sweep even if they misread the length.
There wasn't much turn for either Herath or Dilruwan Perera; most deliveries skidded on with the arm. One such delivery from Herath rapped opener Brian Chari on the pad in front of leg. Umpire Simon Fry raised the finger but it seemed the ball may have been heading down leg with the angle. Hamilton Masakadza was dropped at first slip by Dimuth Karunaratne off Suranga Lakmal in the seventh over, a relatively simple chance at shoulder height. Subsequently, Tino Mawoyo and Masakadza ensured there were no other flutters and ended not out on 41 and 33 respectively.
Tharanga had earlier dominated the day, milking the bowling for the majority of his innings and capitalising on anything short with cuts and dabs behind square on the off side. With legspinner Graeme Cremer blocking that option by bowling a fuller length, Tharanga chose to sweep, including a lofted heave over midwicket to bring up his fifty. Once he was set, the drives came out and their timing was excellent.
Tharanga was assisted by debutant Asela Gunaratne who auditioned for a regular spot in the Test squad with 54 off 102 balls, compiled with a compact technique and an ability to manoeuvre the field. A tight channel just outside off didn't work against him: he often opened the face to steer boundaries either side of gully.
But, soon after becoming the 18th Sri Lankan batsman to score a fifty on his Test debut, Gunaratne misjudged the length of a short delivery from left-arm spinner Sean Williams. A leading edge off an attempted pull was taken at midwicket.
Zimbabwe were sloppy in the field again: Peter Moor missed a stumping and dropped two more catches, in addition to his two spills on the first day. Tharanga was given a life when he checked a drive off Donald Tiripano, but Tino Mawoyo at cover could not hold on to a catch low to his left.
Zimbabwe were much better in the morning though. Seamers Chris Mpofu and Mumba began the day by keeping the ball well outside the off stump and asking overnight batsmen Tharanga and Dhananjaya de Silva to play away from their body if they wanted runs. The batsmen were content in seeing off their opening spell though and only occasionally wafted at the bowlers' invitingly wide deliveries.
In their recent Test series against New Zealand, Zimbabwe's bowlers displayed competence in consistency but weren't able to 'bore' batsmen for long enough. Newly-appointed coach Heath Streak may have already turned that around. Barring the sporadic overpitched delivery, the bowlers repeatedly hit the same lines and lengths which meant Zimbabwe conceded only 50 runs in the first 24 overs of the morning. And that led to De Silva, on 15 runs in 55 balls, to step out to Cremer. He failed to get to the pitch of the ball, went through with the stroke and ended up skewing a catch long-off. Zimbabwe had created a wicket, their only one in the morning session.
Zimbabwe 88/1
Zimbabwe trail by 449 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
For a brief period on the second morning, Zimbabwe made run-scoring look strenuous. For the rest of the day, Sri Lanka's batsmen enjoyed a placid Harare surface and a tiring bowling attack to pile on 537. Upul Tharanga, displaying admirable patience, reaped the most rewards on the second day to score to his second Test ton, an unbeaten 110.
In reply, Zimbabwe's batsmen had to survive a tricky 23 overs before stumps. They were positive from the outset, particularly against Rangana Herath, and finished the second day at 88 for 1. The batsmen regularly shimmied down the track and opted to sweep even if they misread the length.
There wasn't much turn for either Herath or Dilruwan Perera; most deliveries skidded on with the arm. One such delivery from Herath rapped opener Brian Chari on the pad in front of leg. Umpire Simon Fry raised the finger but it seemed the ball may have been heading down leg with the angle. Hamilton Masakadza was dropped at first slip by Dimuth Karunaratne off Suranga Lakmal in the seventh over, a relatively simple chance at shoulder height. Subsequently, Tino Mawoyo and Masakadza ensured there were no other flutters and ended not out on 41 and 33 respectively.
Tharanga had earlier dominated the day, milking the bowling for the majority of his innings and capitalising on anything short with cuts and dabs behind square on the off side. With legspinner Graeme Cremer blocking that option by bowling a fuller length, Tharanga chose to sweep, including a lofted heave over midwicket to bring up his fifty. Once he was set, the drives came out and their timing was excellent.
Tharanga was assisted by debutant Asela Gunaratne who auditioned for a regular spot in the Test squad with 54 off 102 balls, compiled with a compact technique and an ability to manoeuvre the field. A tight channel just outside off didn't work against him: he often opened the face to steer boundaries either side of gully.
But, soon after becoming the 18th Sri Lankan batsman to score a fifty on his Test debut, Gunaratne misjudged the length of a short delivery from left-arm spinner Sean Williams. A leading edge off an attempted pull was taken at midwicket.
Zimbabwe were sloppy in the field again: Peter Moor missed a stumping and dropped two more catches, in addition to his two spills on the first day. Tharanga was given a life when he checked a drive off Donald Tiripano, but Tino Mawoyo at cover could not hold on to a catch low to his left.
Zimbabwe were much better in the morning though. Seamers Chris Mpofu and Mumba began the day by keeping the ball well outside the off stump and asking overnight batsmen Tharanga and Dhananjaya de Silva to play away from their body if they wanted runs. The batsmen were content in seeing off their opening spell though and only occasionally wafted at the bowlers' invitingly wide deliveries.
In their recent Test series against New Zealand, Zimbabwe's bowlers displayed competence in consistency but weren't able to 'bore' batsmen for long enough. Newly-appointed coach Heath Streak may have already turned that around. Barring the sporadic overpitched delivery, the bowlers repeatedly hit the same lines and lengths which meant Zimbabwe conceded only 50 runs in the first 24 overs of the morning. And that led to De Silva, on 15 runs in 55 balls, to step out to Cremer. He failed to get to the pitch of the ball, went through with the stroke and ended up skewing a catch long-off. Zimbabwe had created a wicket, their only one in the morning session.
2nd Test Day 3 BAN 1-1 ENG
BAN 220 & 296
ENG 244 & 164
Bangladesh win by 108 runs
Bangladesh claimed ten wickets in an electric final session to secure an historic first Test victory over England and a 1-1 share of the series. That it came after England's openers had put on a century stand was the final twist in a remarkable match and only heightened the sense of their achievement. The crowning moment was delivered by the teenager Mehedi Hasan, who finished with another six-wicket haul, 12 in the match and the best figures by a Bangladeshi to spark scenes of jubilation at Mirpur.
The result provided atonement after Bangladesh had gone so close in Chittagong, finally giving them a win over one of the major Test nations: in 94 matches previously they had only beaten West Indies and Zimbabwe. It also posed fresh questions for England, who went from 100 for 0 to 164 all out in 22.3 mesmeric overs as Mehedi and Shakib Al Hasan claimed all ten between them.
At tea, England had edged the equation back in their favour, knocking the requirement from 273 down to a seemingly more manageable 173 thanks to their best opening partnership of the tour. But from the very first delivery after the interval, Mehedi speared the ball into Ben Duckett's stumps and England's dream start became a waking nightmare against spin, a Halloween horror show in which every wicket was greeted with ghoulish glee by the Mirpur crowd.
Moments later Joe Root, already zombified by illness, stumbled from the field after a two-ball duck and although Alastair Cook followed Duckett in reaching fifty, England were about to enter a death spiral. From 122 for 2, Bangladesh claimed 4 for 15 in 38 balls, England's middle-order guts ripped out as Mehedi completed a ten-wicket haul in only his second Test. After Duckett and Cook, only Ben Stokes managed double-figures.
Gary Ballance's tortured series ended with a misbegotten leading edge to mid-off and Moeen Ali was lbw to Mehedi in the same over but Bangladesh must have truly believed when Cook popped a catch to silly point - a superb take from Mominul Haque standing as close to the cut strip as he dared - to leave England five down. The sense of grievance Bangladesh apparently felt after Cook had overturned an lbw decision off Mehedi a few overs before, Hawk-Eye projecting the ball to be missing leg stump, was immediately forgotten.
From that point, the ending was inevitable - it was merely a question of when. Jonny Bairstow became Mehedi's 11th victim when an inside edge ballooned to leg slip and although Stokes attempted to hold back the tide, smiting Mehedi for a towering, defiant six, he was bowled playing inside the line of a delivery from Shakib, who claimed three in four balls to put Bangladesh on the brink of a victory that had repeatedly threatened to squirm from their grasp.
Few could have foreseen quite such a dramatic finish at the start of the day. Having been well placed on 152 for 3 overnight, Bangladesh's batsmen resolved to play positively and they succeeded in almost doubling their score. Stokes and Adil Rashid claimed six of the seven wickets to fall, keeping the target below 300, but 273 was still significantly more than England had previously achieved in Asia - coincidentally their 2010 pursuit of 209 at Mirpur, which was also the record on the ground.
They were given the perfect start, however. Cook and his latest partner had a previous best of 26 together and, given England's propensity to go from one to three down (or, in this case, all out) in short order, it was a timely improvement. Duckett's penchant for the reverse-sweep was well known in domestic circles but he unwrapped it for the citizens of Dhaka in the fourth over of the innings, striking back-to-back boundaries off Shakib.
There were one or two misjudgements, a top edge from a cut bursting through the hands of slip, while Kamrul Islam Rabbi could not get his hands under a wild slice running in from cover, but living dangerously was at least living. Duckett went to his maiden Test fifty, from just 61 deliveries, with a swept four and he brought up the hundred with a fierce pull of Mehedi's next ball to further quieten a nervous crowd - at least until the resumption after tea.
A chaotic morning session had seen four wickets, as many catches go down, a couple of reviews wasted and 116 runs added to the Bangladesh total. No batsman was able to survive for long but they successfully staved off the outright collapse England had hoped for, as tempers began to fray.
Stokes was at the centre of trying to lift England but his approach seemed to draw comment from the umpires, who approached Cook to try and calm things down. Stokes was unhappy at Sabbir Rahman advancing down the pitch during a brisk seventh-wicket partnership that repelled England once again and frustrations mounted after they lost their second review seeking a caught-behind decision against Bangladesh's No. 7, who was eventually lbw to Rashid from the last ball before lunch.
England created chances from the outset but Bangladesh's batsmen kept pushing the scoreboard on. Imrul Kayes swept and nudged while the more adventurous Shakib rode his luck to add 48 together inside the first hour and although the wickets did eventually come, England's hopes of running through the middle- and lower-order for a second time in the match were stilled.
Imrul had two let-offs before finally falling for 78. In the sixth over of the morning, on 67, a leg-side flick off Zafar Ansari went quickly to the right of Cook at leg slip and the England captain could only palm it away; then on 74, a simpler chance off the bowling of Moeen was put down by Root, going one-handed to his right at slip.
The Bangladesh opener fell shortly after, lbw to Moeen attempting to sweep, and Shakib might have been stumped in the following over, charging at Ansari, only for the ball to explode off the pitch and clear Bairstow's right shoulder. Ansari should certainly have had Shakib's wicket on 23 when a slog-sweep picked out Duckett at deep midwicket but he made a complete hash of the catch and the same bowler then saw Mushfiqur survive a mistimed chip to Steven Finn running back at mid-off.
England's use of technology was also erratic, failing with one DRS attempt against Mushfiqur - Ansari's delivery pitching outside leg - but opting not to review a pair of lbw appeals from Moeen's bowling, once each against Shakib and Mushfiqur, that would likely have been overturned.
Shakib's innings was cut short on 41 as Rashid ripped a legbreak in from round the wicket and Stokes had Mushfiqur taken at slip in the following over but by then the lead was above 200 and England's task on a surface that continued to assist spin bowling was looking a daunting one. This time, Bangladesh would not let them off the hook.
ENG 244 & 164
Bangladesh win by 108 runs
Bangladesh claimed ten wickets in an electric final session to secure an historic first Test victory over England and a 1-1 share of the series. That it came after England's openers had put on a century stand was the final twist in a remarkable match and only heightened the sense of their achievement. The crowning moment was delivered by the teenager Mehedi Hasan, who finished with another six-wicket haul, 12 in the match and the best figures by a Bangladeshi to spark scenes of jubilation at Mirpur.
The result provided atonement after Bangladesh had gone so close in Chittagong, finally giving them a win over one of the major Test nations: in 94 matches previously they had only beaten West Indies and Zimbabwe. It also posed fresh questions for England, who went from 100 for 0 to 164 all out in 22.3 mesmeric overs as Mehedi and Shakib Al Hasan claimed all ten between them.
At tea, England had edged the equation back in their favour, knocking the requirement from 273 down to a seemingly more manageable 173 thanks to their best opening partnership of the tour. But from the very first delivery after the interval, Mehedi speared the ball into Ben Duckett's stumps and England's dream start became a waking nightmare against spin, a Halloween horror show in which every wicket was greeted with ghoulish glee by the Mirpur crowd.
Moments later Joe Root, already zombified by illness, stumbled from the field after a two-ball duck and although Alastair Cook followed Duckett in reaching fifty, England were about to enter a death spiral. From 122 for 2, Bangladesh claimed 4 for 15 in 38 balls, England's middle-order guts ripped out as Mehedi completed a ten-wicket haul in only his second Test. After Duckett and Cook, only Ben Stokes managed double-figures.
Gary Ballance's tortured series ended with a misbegotten leading edge to mid-off and Moeen Ali was lbw to Mehedi in the same over but Bangladesh must have truly believed when Cook popped a catch to silly point - a superb take from Mominul Haque standing as close to the cut strip as he dared - to leave England five down. The sense of grievance Bangladesh apparently felt after Cook had overturned an lbw decision off Mehedi a few overs before, Hawk-Eye projecting the ball to be missing leg stump, was immediately forgotten.
From that point, the ending was inevitable - it was merely a question of when. Jonny Bairstow became Mehedi's 11th victim when an inside edge ballooned to leg slip and although Stokes attempted to hold back the tide, smiting Mehedi for a towering, defiant six, he was bowled playing inside the line of a delivery from Shakib, who claimed three in four balls to put Bangladesh on the brink of a victory that had repeatedly threatened to squirm from their grasp.
Few could have foreseen quite such a dramatic finish at the start of the day. Having been well placed on 152 for 3 overnight, Bangladesh's batsmen resolved to play positively and they succeeded in almost doubling their score. Stokes and Adil Rashid claimed six of the seven wickets to fall, keeping the target below 300, but 273 was still significantly more than England had previously achieved in Asia - coincidentally their 2010 pursuit of 209 at Mirpur, which was also the record on the ground.
They were given the perfect start, however. Cook and his latest partner had a previous best of 26 together and, given England's propensity to go from one to three down (or, in this case, all out) in short order, it was a timely improvement. Duckett's penchant for the reverse-sweep was well known in domestic circles but he unwrapped it for the citizens of Dhaka in the fourth over of the innings, striking back-to-back boundaries off Shakib.
There were one or two misjudgements, a top edge from a cut bursting through the hands of slip, while Kamrul Islam Rabbi could not get his hands under a wild slice running in from cover, but living dangerously was at least living. Duckett went to his maiden Test fifty, from just 61 deliveries, with a swept four and he brought up the hundred with a fierce pull of Mehedi's next ball to further quieten a nervous crowd - at least until the resumption after tea.
A chaotic morning session had seen four wickets, as many catches go down, a couple of reviews wasted and 116 runs added to the Bangladesh total. No batsman was able to survive for long but they successfully staved off the outright collapse England had hoped for, as tempers began to fray.
Stokes was at the centre of trying to lift England but his approach seemed to draw comment from the umpires, who approached Cook to try and calm things down. Stokes was unhappy at Sabbir Rahman advancing down the pitch during a brisk seventh-wicket partnership that repelled England once again and frustrations mounted after they lost their second review seeking a caught-behind decision against Bangladesh's No. 7, who was eventually lbw to Rashid from the last ball before lunch.
England created chances from the outset but Bangladesh's batsmen kept pushing the scoreboard on. Imrul Kayes swept and nudged while the more adventurous Shakib rode his luck to add 48 together inside the first hour and although the wickets did eventually come, England's hopes of running through the middle- and lower-order for a second time in the match were stilled.
Imrul had two let-offs before finally falling for 78. In the sixth over of the morning, on 67, a leg-side flick off Zafar Ansari went quickly to the right of Cook at leg slip and the England captain could only palm it away; then on 74, a simpler chance off the bowling of Moeen was put down by Root, going one-handed to his right at slip.
The Bangladesh opener fell shortly after, lbw to Moeen attempting to sweep, and Shakib might have been stumped in the following over, charging at Ansari, only for the ball to explode off the pitch and clear Bairstow's right shoulder. Ansari should certainly have had Shakib's wicket on 23 when a slog-sweep picked out Duckett at deep midwicket but he made a complete hash of the catch and the same bowler then saw Mushfiqur survive a mistimed chip to Steven Finn running back at mid-off.
England's use of technology was also erratic, failing with one DRS attempt against Mushfiqur - Ansari's delivery pitching outside leg - but opting not to review a pair of lbw appeals from Moeen's bowling, once each against Shakib and Mushfiqur, that would likely have been overturned.
Shakib's innings was cut short on 41 as Rashid ripped a legbreak in from round the wicket and Stokes had Mushfiqur taken at slip in the following over but by then the lead was above 200 and England's task on a surface that continued to assist spin bowling was looking a daunting one. This time, Bangladesh would not let them off the hook.
Saturday 29 October 2016
1st Test Day 1 ZIM V SL & 5th ODI IND 3-2 NZ
1st Test
Day 1
Sri Lanka 317/4 (90.0 ov)
Zimbabwe
Kusal Perera preyed on a sub-par bowling effort, a docile Harare surface and sloppy fielding to hammer his maiden Test ton, a 121-ball 110, as Sri Lanka racked up 316 for 4 against Zimbabwe on the first day.
Perera, batting at No. 3, signalled his aggressive approach from the outset. Two wild swings early in his innings, one of which took the outside edge, didn't alter his tactics. He plundered a tiring bowling attack for 15 fours and two sixes, including taking debutant Carl Mumba for five fours in an over after the tea break.
Perera was supremely confident against anything too full, often muscling boundaries straight including two sixes to the long-on area off Hamilton Masakadza in the space of three balls. The bowlers' natural response was to drop short but a slow surface helped him read the length early and execute the pull efficiently in the arc between square leg and fine leg.
Despite Perera's dominance, it would have been the Sri Lanka openers who may have worn the widest smiles on their journey to Zimbabwe. In their home series against Australia, Sri Lanka's opening stands amounted to 27 in six innings, an average of 4.5. In their first Test since that series, Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne saw off the swinging new ball and added a 123-run stand against a harmless bowling attack.
Silva was typically staunch in defense and capitalised on the occasional short or overpitched delivery. After a slow start, Silva found his run-scoring rhythm towards the latter part of the first session.
After the lunch break, Silva made a slight change to his technique: he chose to play the ball later and use cross-batted shots - pulls and cuts behind square - to accumulate his runs. He struck 11 boundaries, most of which came via errant lines. Just after the tea break, a loss in concentration cost him his second successive ton, shimmying down and chipping part-timer Malcolm Waller to mid-on for 94.
Karunaratne was repeatedly dismissed in the same fashion against Australia: playing around his front pad and missing Mitchell Starc's straight deliveries. He fell over against Zimbabwe's accurate seamers too, but was able to manipulate the midwicket region because of the difference in pace. The bowlers weren't helped by a sluggish pitch that got slower as the day wore on.
An error in judgement at this level can often be fatal. Karunaratne, who was looking impregnable on 56, went back to turn an innocuous delivery on the pads to square leg but reached the ball a fraction early. A leading edge was snaffled up at midwicket.
Zimbabwe's seamers had extracted enough from the surface and in the air in the first hour, but Sri Lanka's openers were disciplined. Many deliveries were left alone and a few even beat the bat. After that though, lateral movement ceased and they made use of the favourable batting conditions.
Sri Lanka may not have had as much success had Zimbabwe held on to their chances. Mumba pitched his first ball on middle - the second over of the day - and got it to swerve away just enough to take the shoulder of Karunaratne's bat. Williams backtracked from gully but couldn't cling on to his overhead one-handed attempt.
In the second session, Zimbabwe dropped three catches. Wicketkeeper Peter Moor spilled two of them standing up to the stumps, off Perera and Silva. Perera was given another reprieve when Malcolm Waller spilled a chance while running in from long-on.
Cremer lent some respectability to Zimbabwe's day by having Kusal Mendis caught behind off a vicious legbreak. Towards the end, he also had Perera caught at cover to finish with figures of 3 for 82 in an otherwise substandard day.
Day 1
Sri Lanka 317/4 (90.0 ov)
Zimbabwe
Kusal Perera preyed on a sub-par bowling effort, a docile Harare surface and sloppy fielding to hammer his maiden Test ton, a 121-ball 110, as Sri Lanka racked up 316 for 4 against Zimbabwe on the first day.
Perera, batting at No. 3, signalled his aggressive approach from the outset. Two wild swings early in his innings, one of which took the outside edge, didn't alter his tactics. He plundered a tiring bowling attack for 15 fours and two sixes, including taking debutant Carl Mumba for five fours in an over after the tea break.
Perera was supremely confident against anything too full, often muscling boundaries straight including two sixes to the long-on area off Hamilton Masakadza in the space of three balls. The bowlers' natural response was to drop short but a slow surface helped him read the length early and execute the pull efficiently in the arc between square leg and fine leg.
Despite Perera's dominance, it would have been the Sri Lanka openers who may have worn the widest smiles on their journey to Zimbabwe. In their home series against Australia, Sri Lanka's opening stands amounted to 27 in six innings, an average of 4.5. In their first Test since that series, Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne saw off the swinging new ball and added a 123-run stand against a harmless bowling attack.
Silva was typically staunch in defense and capitalised on the occasional short or overpitched delivery. After a slow start, Silva found his run-scoring rhythm towards the latter part of the first session.
After the lunch break, Silva made a slight change to his technique: he chose to play the ball later and use cross-batted shots - pulls and cuts behind square - to accumulate his runs. He struck 11 boundaries, most of which came via errant lines. Just after the tea break, a loss in concentration cost him his second successive ton, shimmying down and chipping part-timer Malcolm Waller to mid-on for 94.
Karunaratne was repeatedly dismissed in the same fashion against Australia: playing around his front pad and missing Mitchell Starc's straight deliveries. He fell over against Zimbabwe's accurate seamers too, but was able to manipulate the midwicket region because of the difference in pace. The bowlers weren't helped by a sluggish pitch that got slower as the day wore on.
An error in judgement at this level can often be fatal. Karunaratne, who was looking impregnable on 56, went back to turn an innocuous delivery on the pads to square leg but reached the ball a fraction early. A leading edge was snaffled up at midwicket.
Zimbabwe's seamers had extracted enough from the surface and in the air in the first hour, but Sri Lanka's openers were disciplined. Many deliveries were left alone and a few even beat the bat. After that though, lateral movement ceased and they made use of the favourable batting conditions.
Sri Lanka may not have had as much success had Zimbabwe held on to their chances. Mumba pitched his first ball on middle - the second over of the day - and got it to swerve away just enough to take the shoulder of Karunaratne's bat. Williams backtracked from gully but couldn't cling on to his overhead one-handed attempt.
In the second session, Zimbabwe dropped three catches. Wicketkeeper Peter Moor spilled two of them standing up to the stumps, off Perera and Silva. Perera was given another reprieve when Malcolm Waller spilled a chance while running in from long-on.
Cremer lent some respectability to Zimbabwe's day by having Kusal Mendis caught behind off a vicious legbreak. Towards the end, he also had Perera caught at cover to finish with figures of 3 for 82 in an otherwise substandard day.
2nd Test BAN V ENG Day 2
Bangladesh 220 & 152/3 (31.0 ov)
England 244
Bangladesh lead by 128 runs with 7 wickets remaining
Bangladesh's pursuit of a first Test win over England has been nothing if not absorbing. Following their narrow defeat in Chittagong, they once again fought themselves into a promising position in the second Test, leading by 128 runs and hopeful of setting England a significant fourth-innings target to chase on a wearing surface. Only Bangladesh's recent record - and history itself - would lead you to bet against them.
The second day at Mirpur highlighted their fragility, as well as the weaknesses of an England team one-and-a-half games into a seven-Test odyssey on the subcontinent. England were struggling to stay afloat after being reduced to 144 for 8 during the morning session, 18-year-old offspinner Mehedi Hasan bewitching the top order for his second consecutive six-for, before a record stand between Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid carried them into a scarcely believable first-innings lead.
Bangladesh's openers responded with a counterattack against the new ball, led by the irrepressible Tamim Iqbal, before two wickets in three balls caused another tremor. Mahmudullah's dismissal from the last ball of the day, slogging wildly at Zafar Ansari, then took the gloss off a recovery stand of 86 with Imrul Kayes and England, mindful of the way Bangladesh plunged from 171 for 1 to 220 all out on Friday, will not have given up hope. Like one of the many tributaries flowing into the Bay of Bengal, this fluctuating match has refused to follow a set course.
The resurrection of England's first innings, another stark reversal of fortunes, demonstrated the point. Having been eight down and 76 runs in arrears, Woakes and Rashid put on 99 together as Bangladesh visibly wilted after a dominant morning session in which they had claimed five wickets and seemingly regained control of the match.
Their mettle was further tested by an off-field intervention. England had edged in front when Woakes, on 38, slapped a high full toss from Sabbir Rahman straight to midwicket but Chris Gaffaney, the TV umpire, deemed the delivery a no-ball for being above waist height - an undoubtedly harsh decision - and England went on to add another 22 runs to their total. Given that was the margin between the sides in Chittagong, it could still prove crucial.
Tamim and Imrul wiped out the deficit, as momentum continued to shift and England's spinners once again came under attack. Ansari removed Tamim for his maiden Test wicket and Ben Stokes struck in the following over but Imrul moved past 50 and was steady at the close - even if Mahmudullah as not.
The Woakes-Rashid partnership was England's highest for the ninth wicket in Asia and kept the tourists in game after another trial by spin. At lunch, England had been left sagging on the ropes and contemplating a significant first-innings deficit, despite a battling fifty from Joe Root.
Woakes and Rashid were initially only focused on getting to the break, though both needed some luck to survive. Woakes was given out caught behind but successfully reviewed, while Mushfiqur Rahim's resort to the DRS could not dislodge Rashid after the ball deflected off his body to slip. Rashid could also have been stumped when Mushfiqur dropped the ball on to the wicket but the bails stayed in place.
They remained glued together for almost the entirety of the afternoon session, playing straight against the softening ball and frustrating Bangladesh's hopes of a potentially decisive lead. After 57 overs exclusively of spin, Mushfiqur finally called on his one seamer, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, before the captain turned, slightly in desperation, to Sabbir, who ought to have had Woakes as his first Test wicket - though it was neither a shot nor a delivery to be proud of.
Gaffaney's decision further deflated Bangladesh and although Mehedi had Woakes smartly caught at leg slip by the diving Shuvagata Hom four runs short of a second Test half-century and Steven Finn did not last long, edging to Mushfiqur in the next over, the scales had tipped England's way.
On this security-heavy tour, England have become used to travelling in convoy through closed-off roads, free from the usual traffic, Dhaka's notoriously sclerotic system bypassed. The two Tests against Bangladesh have been similarly fast-moving, the traditionally glacial progress of subcontinental cricket melting into something far-less predictable.
The challenge for England was clear from the outset. Mehedi was again Bangladesh's spin kingpin and there were already signs of the pitch offering more grip after Moeen Ali edged the third ball of the day to slip on the bounce. Fourteen runs had come from 11 deliveries in slightly frantic fashion when Moeen tried to manufacture a sweep and Mehedi slid the ball past the bottom edge to shudder off stump.
During an extended morning session, which spanned almost 40 overs, on a surface that was perfectly suited to the talents of the home attack, Mushfiqur bowled his three spinners throughout. Root provided the principal roadblock to Bangladeshi ambition. He survived one tough chance to slip and many more deliveries spitting past the bat to compile his first half-century of the winter before becoming the eighth man out shortly before lunch. Having seen Taijul Islam spin the ball almost at right angles past his bat, he was defeated by the very next delivery, one that pitched in almost exactly the same spot only to zero in on leg stump.
Jonny Bairstow was the only other top-order batsman to reach 20, while Ansari, the debutant at No. 8, hung in as best he could. It took a superb reaction catch from Shuvagata at gully to remove him, giving Mehedi his five-for in the process; he became only the second offspinner after Sonny Ramadhin to do so twice in his first two Test matches.
Taijul might have removed dislodged Root on 19, but Mahmudullah failed to get more than fingertips on a thick edge that gave him little time to react as the ball diverted past Mushfiqur's gloves. The next delivery brought the wicket of Stokes, taken at short leg for a duck, the ball spinning in sharply from over the wicket to deflect off the inside edge via the thigh pad.
England were 69 for 5 and once again in need of a sixth-wicket rescue job. Bairstow provided one of sorts (these things are relative), although his 45-run association with Root was not quite enough to extend a run of 50-plus stands that had stretched back to England's defeat to Pakistan at Lord's in July. The Yorkshire pair were proactive in their running and watchful in defence, accepting that the ball would frequently rip past the edge but quickly resetting their sights for the next delivery.
Bangladesh reviewed unsuccessfully when Root was on 33, seeking an lbw, but after their doughty association had held for 16.3 overs - by far the longest of the innings until Woakes and Rashid came together - and England were perhaps just beginning to think about parity, Bairstow played absentmindedly around Mehedi's first ball back into the attack to be pinned in front of his stumps.
England 244
Bangladesh lead by 128 runs with 7 wickets remaining
Bangladesh's pursuit of a first Test win over England has been nothing if not absorbing. Following their narrow defeat in Chittagong, they once again fought themselves into a promising position in the second Test, leading by 128 runs and hopeful of setting England a significant fourth-innings target to chase on a wearing surface. Only Bangladesh's recent record - and history itself - would lead you to bet against them.
The second day at Mirpur highlighted their fragility, as well as the weaknesses of an England team one-and-a-half games into a seven-Test odyssey on the subcontinent. England were struggling to stay afloat after being reduced to 144 for 8 during the morning session, 18-year-old offspinner Mehedi Hasan bewitching the top order for his second consecutive six-for, before a record stand between Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid carried them into a scarcely believable first-innings lead.
Bangladesh's openers responded with a counterattack against the new ball, led by the irrepressible Tamim Iqbal, before two wickets in three balls caused another tremor. Mahmudullah's dismissal from the last ball of the day, slogging wildly at Zafar Ansari, then took the gloss off a recovery stand of 86 with Imrul Kayes and England, mindful of the way Bangladesh plunged from 171 for 1 to 220 all out on Friday, will not have given up hope. Like one of the many tributaries flowing into the Bay of Bengal, this fluctuating match has refused to follow a set course.
The resurrection of England's first innings, another stark reversal of fortunes, demonstrated the point. Having been eight down and 76 runs in arrears, Woakes and Rashid put on 99 together as Bangladesh visibly wilted after a dominant morning session in which they had claimed five wickets and seemingly regained control of the match.
Their mettle was further tested by an off-field intervention. England had edged in front when Woakes, on 38, slapped a high full toss from Sabbir Rahman straight to midwicket but Chris Gaffaney, the TV umpire, deemed the delivery a no-ball for being above waist height - an undoubtedly harsh decision - and England went on to add another 22 runs to their total. Given that was the margin between the sides in Chittagong, it could still prove crucial.
Tamim and Imrul wiped out the deficit, as momentum continued to shift and England's spinners once again came under attack. Ansari removed Tamim for his maiden Test wicket and Ben Stokes struck in the following over but Imrul moved past 50 and was steady at the close - even if Mahmudullah as not.
The Woakes-Rashid partnership was England's highest for the ninth wicket in Asia and kept the tourists in game after another trial by spin. At lunch, England had been left sagging on the ropes and contemplating a significant first-innings deficit, despite a battling fifty from Joe Root.
Woakes and Rashid were initially only focused on getting to the break, though both needed some luck to survive. Woakes was given out caught behind but successfully reviewed, while Mushfiqur Rahim's resort to the DRS could not dislodge Rashid after the ball deflected off his body to slip. Rashid could also have been stumped when Mushfiqur dropped the ball on to the wicket but the bails stayed in place.
They remained glued together for almost the entirety of the afternoon session, playing straight against the softening ball and frustrating Bangladesh's hopes of a potentially decisive lead. After 57 overs exclusively of spin, Mushfiqur finally called on his one seamer, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, before the captain turned, slightly in desperation, to Sabbir, who ought to have had Woakes as his first Test wicket - though it was neither a shot nor a delivery to be proud of.
Gaffaney's decision further deflated Bangladesh and although Mehedi had Woakes smartly caught at leg slip by the diving Shuvagata Hom four runs short of a second Test half-century and Steven Finn did not last long, edging to Mushfiqur in the next over, the scales had tipped England's way.
On this security-heavy tour, England have become used to travelling in convoy through closed-off roads, free from the usual traffic, Dhaka's notoriously sclerotic system bypassed. The two Tests against Bangladesh have been similarly fast-moving, the traditionally glacial progress of subcontinental cricket melting into something far-less predictable.
The challenge for England was clear from the outset. Mehedi was again Bangladesh's spin kingpin and there were already signs of the pitch offering more grip after Moeen Ali edged the third ball of the day to slip on the bounce. Fourteen runs had come from 11 deliveries in slightly frantic fashion when Moeen tried to manufacture a sweep and Mehedi slid the ball past the bottom edge to shudder off stump.
During an extended morning session, which spanned almost 40 overs, on a surface that was perfectly suited to the talents of the home attack, Mushfiqur bowled his three spinners throughout. Root provided the principal roadblock to Bangladeshi ambition. He survived one tough chance to slip and many more deliveries spitting past the bat to compile his first half-century of the winter before becoming the eighth man out shortly before lunch. Having seen Taijul Islam spin the ball almost at right angles past his bat, he was defeated by the very next delivery, one that pitched in almost exactly the same spot only to zero in on leg stump.
Jonny Bairstow was the only other top-order batsman to reach 20, while Ansari, the debutant at No. 8, hung in as best he could. It took a superb reaction catch from Shuvagata at gully to remove him, giving Mehedi his five-for in the process; he became only the second offspinner after Sonny Ramadhin to do so twice in his first two Test matches.
Taijul might have removed dislodged Root on 19, but Mahmudullah failed to get more than fingertips on a thick edge that gave him little time to react as the ball diverted past Mushfiqur's gloves. The next delivery brought the wicket of Stokes, taken at short leg for a duck, the ball spinning in sharply from over the wicket to deflect off the inside edge via the thigh pad.
England were 69 for 5 and once again in need of a sixth-wicket rescue job. Bairstow provided one of sorts (these things are relative), although his 45-run association with Root was not quite enough to extend a run of 50-plus stands that had stretched back to England's defeat to Pakistan at Lord's in July. The Yorkshire pair were proactive in their running and watchful in defence, accepting that the ball would frequently rip past the edge but quickly resetting their sights for the next delivery.
Bangladesh reviewed unsuccessfully when Root was on 33, seeking an lbw, but after their doughty association had held for 16.3 overs - by far the longest of the innings until Woakes and Rashid came together - and England were perhaps just beginning to think about parity, Bairstow played absentmindedly around Mehedi's first ball back into the attack to be pinned in front of his stumps.
Friday 28 October 2016
2nd Test BAN V ENG Day 1
BAN 220
ENG 50/3
Stumps
An astonishing collapse either side of the tea interval saw Bangladesh squander the advantage given them by Tamim Iqbal's imperious century, a nausea-inducing slide of 9 for 49 sending them tumbling from the seemingly dominant position of 171 for 1 to 220 all out in the space of 23 overs.
Moeen Ali was the main catalyst and beneficiary, although Ben Stokes' steadfast spell of 6-2-7-2 before tea deserved high praise, his mastery reverse swing once again causing the sorts of problems that spin had initially failed to achieve. Moeen took the key wickets of Tamim and Mominul Haque and finished with 5 for 57 - only his second five-for in Tests.
Despite losing a wicket in the third over of the day, Tamim's third Test hundred against England had given Bangladesh a solid foundation and left Alastair Cook frantically shuffling through his bowling options. Mominul Haque scored a crisp half-century as he and Tamim inflicted fresh psychological blows on an already beleaguered spin cohort during a stand of 170 - Bangladesh's highest for the second wicket against England - which came at a rate comfortably above four an over.
But Moeen removed both set batsmen in the space of four overs, when greater returns seemed in the offing, and Stokes brought the game back England's way as he dismissed Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman, so nearly the hero of Chittagong, with the interval approaching. Chris Woakes struck twice after tea, having Shuvagata Hom and Shakib Al Hasan caught behind, before England successfully turned to the DRS to have Mehedi Hasan lbw. Moeen then rounded things up by having Kamrul Islam Rabbi taken at slip. After Tamim and Monimul, the next-highest score was 13.
It was quite a turnaround from the morning, when England's subcontinental weak spot was exposed once again. Tamim recorded his eighth Test hundred, a regal innings full of judicious stroke-making that culminated in two full-blooded drives through the covers to go to three figures, though he did not add many more having unwisely chosen to pad up to Moeen.
Mominul's first significant contribution of the series was also an accomplished knock but he was then bowled for 66 playing back to Moeen's arm ball. That over, the 46th of the innings, was the first maiden bowled by a spinner, a measure of how England had been unable to contain the pair.
With the ball reversing, however, Stokes had Mahmudullah taken at slip and he then roughed up Mushfiqur Rahim with a snorting bouncer that struck the Bangladesh captain on the back of the helmet as he turned away. He got up to carry on after treatment by the physio but was back in the changing room minutes later after a brilliant catch from Cook at leg slip, who clung on at the second attempt after Mushfiqur had inside-edged a glance off Moeen through his legs.
Mushfiqur had better luck at the start of his 50th Test, having won the toss and decided to bat first - just the sort of good fortune he must have hoped for after electing to go in with a fourth spinner, Shuvagata taking the place vacated by Shafiul Islam on a cracked surface that was expected to turn.
Tamim's eighth 50-plus score against England in 11 innings came after Woakes had picked up a wicket in his second over and helped Bangladesh respond by putting on a rousing stand with Mominul. He motored to 60-ball fifty, having failed to score off his first 19 deliveries during a watchful opening, and also successfully utilised the review system, such a feature of the first Test, by overturning a caught-behind decision on 66, shortly before the lunch break.
Cook struggled for control throughout the morning session, with only Stokes going at less than three runs an over. Zafar Ansari, into the side as one of two changes from England's victory in Chittagong, saw his six overs taxed to the tune of 36 runs and the debutant left-armer was not seen again during the afternoon.
England had initially found success after being put into the field, throttling the scoring and removing Imrul Kayes, cutting lackadaisically to point for 1. After four overs the card had gone nowhere at 1 for 1, before Mominul eased the pressure with a brace of boundaries off Woakes; Tamim, meanwhile, was content to bide his time against the new ball.
Cook turned to Moeen in the seventh over and while he began tidily enough, the sight of spin encouraged Tamim to kick into gear as he stepped out to drive his first boundary a couple of overs later. Three fours off Woakes - leg-side flick, back-foot drive and a meaty pull - confirmed that he had hit his stride.
Two more boundaries came in the next over, as Tamim welcomed Ansari by driving him through the covers and down the ground. Ansari did succeed in drawing an edge with his second delivery, though it scuttled wide of slip for three, and his opening over in international cricket (his contribution limited to fielding in his only ODI to date) cost 13 runs, England still no nearer to finding a spinner who could offer control.
Mominul's first three scoring shots went for four but he then ceded the impetus to his partner, as Bangladesh reached the top of the hour in a much more comfortable position at 67 for 1, with England also wasting a review against Tamim when he padded up to a Moeen delivery that was shown to be bouncing over the stumps. Tamim's fifty came up via a sweep off Ansari and it took a vigorous spell from Stokes to ensure Bangladesh's progress would not be completely unfettered.
It was Stokes who thought he had broken through, too, when Kumar Dharmasena raised his finger for a catch down the leg side. However, DRS quickly confirmed that the ball had flicked Tamim's thigh pad rather than glove, the procession of successful reviews in this series growing longer. Tamim then took a blow to the ribs from a Stokes short ball but Mominul stroked the 15th boundary of the morning, off Adil Rashid, to move within sight of his own half-century and ensure Bangladesh went in to lunch far the happier of the two sides. Their serenity was not to last.
ENG 50/3
Stumps
An astonishing collapse either side of the tea interval saw Bangladesh squander the advantage given them by Tamim Iqbal's imperious century, a nausea-inducing slide of 9 for 49 sending them tumbling from the seemingly dominant position of 171 for 1 to 220 all out in the space of 23 overs.
Moeen Ali was the main catalyst and beneficiary, although Ben Stokes' steadfast spell of 6-2-7-2 before tea deserved high praise, his mastery reverse swing once again causing the sorts of problems that spin had initially failed to achieve. Moeen took the key wickets of Tamim and Mominul Haque and finished with 5 for 57 - only his second five-for in Tests.
Despite losing a wicket in the third over of the day, Tamim's third Test hundred against England had given Bangladesh a solid foundation and left Alastair Cook frantically shuffling through his bowling options. Mominul Haque scored a crisp half-century as he and Tamim inflicted fresh psychological blows on an already beleaguered spin cohort during a stand of 170 - Bangladesh's highest for the second wicket against England - which came at a rate comfortably above four an over.
But Moeen removed both set batsmen in the space of four overs, when greater returns seemed in the offing, and Stokes brought the game back England's way as he dismissed Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman, so nearly the hero of Chittagong, with the interval approaching. Chris Woakes struck twice after tea, having Shuvagata Hom and Shakib Al Hasan caught behind, before England successfully turned to the DRS to have Mehedi Hasan lbw. Moeen then rounded things up by having Kamrul Islam Rabbi taken at slip. After Tamim and Monimul, the next-highest score was 13.
It was quite a turnaround from the morning, when England's subcontinental weak spot was exposed once again. Tamim recorded his eighth Test hundred, a regal innings full of judicious stroke-making that culminated in two full-blooded drives through the covers to go to three figures, though he did not add many more having unwisely chosen to pad up to Moeen.
Mominul's first significant contribution of the series was also an accomplished knock but he was then bowled for 66 playing back to Moeen's arm ball. That over, the 46th of the innings, was the first maiden bowled by a spinner, a measure of how England had been unable to contain the pair.
With the ball reversing, however, Stokes had Mahmudullah taken at slip and he then roughed up Mushfiqur Rahim with a snorting bouncer that struck the Bangladesh captain on the back of the helmet as he turned away. He got up to carry on after treatment by the physio but was back in the changing room minutes later after a brilliant catch from Cook at leg slip, who clung on at the second attempt after Mushfiqur had inside-edged a glance off Moeen through his legs.
Mushfiqur had better luck at the start of his 50th Test, having won the toss and decided to bat first - just the sort of good fortune he must have hoped for after electing to go in with a fourth spinner, Shuvagata taking the place vacated by Shafiul Islam on a cracked surface that was expected to turn.
Tamim's eighth 50-plus score against England in 11 innings came after Woakes had picked up a wicket in his second over and helped Bangladesh respond by putting on a rousing stand with Mominul. He motored to 60-ball fifty, having failed to score off his first 19 deliveries during a watchful opening, and also successfully utilised the review system, such a feature of the first Test, by overturning a caught-behind decision on 66, shortly before the lunch break.
Cook struggled for control throughout the morning session, with only Stokes going at less than three runs an over. Zafar Ansari, into the side as one of two changes from England's victory in Chittagong, saw his six overs taxed to the tune of 36 runs and the debutant left-armer was not seen again during the afternoon.
England had initially found success after being put into the field, throttling the scoring and removing Imrul Kayes, cutting lackadaisically to point for 1. After four overs the card had gone nowhere at 1 for 1, before Mominul eased the pressure with a brace of boundaries off Woakes; Tamim, meanwhile, was content to bide his time against the new ball.
Cook turned to Moeen in the seventh over and while he began tidily enough, the sight of spin encouraged Tamim to kick into gear as he stepped out to drive his first boundary a couple of overs later. Three fours off Woakes - leg-side flick, back-foot drive and a meaty pull - confirmed that he had hit his stride.
Two more boundaries came in the next over, as Tamim welcomed Ansari by driving him through the covers and down the ground. Ansari did succeed in drawing an edge with his second delivery, though it scuttled wide of slip for three, and his opening over in international cricket (his contribution limited to fielding in his only ODI to date) cost 13 runs, England still no nearer to finding a spinner who could offer control.
Mominul's first three scoring shots went for four but he then ceded the impetus to his partner, as Bangladesh reached the top of the hour in a much more comfortable position at 67 for 1, with England also wasting a review against Tamim when he padded up to a Moeen delivery that was shown to be bouncing over the stumps. Tamim's fifty came up via a sweep off Ansari and it took a vigorous spell from Stokes to ensure Bangladesh's progress would not be completely unfettered.
It was Stokes who thought he had broken through, too, when Kumar Dharmasena raised his finger for a catch down the leg side. However, DRS quickly confirmed that the ball had flicked Tamim's thigh pad rather than glove, the procession of successful reviews in this series growing longer. Tamim then took a blow to the ribs from a Stokes short ball but Mominul stroked the 15th boundary of the morning, off Adil Rashid, to move within sight of his own half-century and ensure Bangladesh went in to lunch far the happier of the two sides. Their serenity was not to last.
Wednesday 26 October 2016
4th ODI: India 2-2 New Zealand
New Zealand 260/7 (50.0 ov)
India 241 (48.4 ov)
New Zealand won by 19 runs
Martin Guptill's opening salvo, and canny bowling from Tim Southee and James Neesham, ensured New Zealand forced the ODI series into a decider at Visakhapatnam. Having won their first toss of the tour in their eighth match, New Zealand, led by Guptill's bruising half-century, tactfully exploited the field restrictions and ultimately finished at 260 for 7 on a track that offered turn and variable - sometimes negligible - bounce. The bowlers then frequently varied their pace and found equally good support from the fielders to throttle India's chase.
Southee was New Zealand's key figure with the ball, first having Rohit Sharma caught behind with a perfectly-pitched outswinger. He returned with the old ball and produced a double-strike to all but snuff out the chase; a ball after Manish Pandey holed out off him, he had Kedhar Jadhav pinned in front by a slower offcutter for a first-ball duck. Three overs later Hardik Pandya was caught at long-off, Tom Latham running to his left to pocket a smart catch. India were left needing 94 off 84 balls, with three wickets in hand. Axar Patel, who was promoted to No. 5, and Amit Mishra briefly rallied with a 38-run partnership for the eighth wicket, Dhawal Kulkarni and Umesh Yadav then added 34 for the last wicket, but the hosts were dismissed for 241 in 48.4 overs.
Neesham had produced a double-strike of his own, before ceding the stage to Southee. He dismissed Ajinkya Rahane for 57 in the 28th over and followed it with the bigger wicket of MS Dhoni. Rahane shuffled across and was trapped plumb in front by a straight ball while Dhoni was bowled through the gate for 11 off 31 balls.
India, however, had started positively in their chase, with Rahane jumping onto any width offered and swatting away short balls with authority. He even uppercut Trent Boult for a six over point. He strung together 79 for the second wicket with Virat Kohli, who played a few trademark whiplash drives and punches. Mitchell Santner, meanwhile, held his own and spun a few past the outside edge, with his family watching from the stands. And when he found the outside edge there was nobody at slips to snap it up.
The partnership ended in the 20th over when Ish Sodhi found Kohli's outside edge with a slower legbreak and BJ Watling, who was playing his first ODI since February 2013, pouched it. The middle order then faded away, and although Axar showed glimpses of bravado in his cameo - 38 off 40 balls - India are yet to identify a genuine finisher with only four ODIs to go for the Champions Trophy.
New Zealand, on the other hand, ticked many boxes. For starters they read the conditions expertly, picking three spinners and taking the mind back to their success in the World T20. Guptill struck his second fifty of the tour. Latham was solid as usual, and Ross Taylor, under fire from all quarters, spent some time in the middle, although he was edgy throughout his stay.
But the most telling contribution, perhaps, arrived from Guptill. He didn't always look pretty, but bent India's attack out of shape in the Powerplay. He gave Kulkarni a cold welcome, hitting three fours off four balls. The first two were skewed drives wide of point and over mid-on. The third was disdainfully scythed through extra cover. He pressed on to unfurl sublime inside-out drives too. The nature of the pitch put in perspective Guptill's early assault. As the match wore on, the odd ball kept low while several stopped on the batsmen. A couple of grubbers even raised a puff of dust from the surface.
India could have had Guptill on 29, but Amit Mishra could not hold on to one after diving to his left from mid-on - a decent effort, but he might have done better if he were a bit quicker to react. Mishra gave him another life later on, misjudging a much simpler catch at long-off when Guptill was on 62.
Guptill had reached his half-century off 56 balls at the start of the 17th over, four balls after Axar had Latham edging a sweep to short fine leg for 39 off 40 balls. By then Axar and Mishra had settled into an asphyxiating rhythm. Guptill needed 12 balls to score his first run against spin, and was further stifled by Jadhav's loopy offbreaks and straighter ones. The spinners conceded only 19 runs in the seven overs from the 11th to the 17th. But it was Pandya who ultimately removed Guptill, when he had him playing inside the line and edging behind to leave New Zealand at 139 for 2 in 26 overs.
Mishra dragged them back further by removing Kane Williamson and Neesham in successive overs. New Zealand scrounged only 99 runs for five wickets from the last 20 overs of their innings, and only three boundaries in the last ten overs, including one of the final ball of the innings. But it proved enough to square the series.
India 241 (48.4 ov)
New Zealand won by 19 runs
Martin Guptill's opening salvo, and canny bowling from Tim Southee and James Neesham, ensured New Zealand forced the ODI series into a decider at Visakhapatnam. Having won their first toss of the tour in their eighth match, New Zealand, led by Guptill's bruising half-century, tactfully exploited the field restrictions and ultimately finished at 260 for 7 on a track that offered turn and variable - sometimes negligible - bounce. The bowlers then frequently varied their pace and found equally good support from the fielders to throttle India's chase.
Southee was New Zealand's key figure with the ball, first having Rohit Sharma caught behind with a perfectly-pitched outswinger. He returned with the old ball and produced a double-strike to all but snuff out the chase; a ball after Manish Pandey holed out off him, he had Kedhar Jadhav pinned in front by a slower offcutter for a first-ball duck. Three overs later Hardik Pandya was caught at long-off, Tom Latham running to his left to pocket a smart catch. India were left needing 94 off 84 balls, with three wickets in hand. Axar Patel, who was promoted to No. 5, and Amit Mishra briefly rallied with a 38-run partnership for the eighth wicket, Dhawal Kulkarni and Umesh Yadav then added 34 for the last wicket, but the hosts were dismissed for 241 in 48.4 overs.
Neesham had produced a double-strike of his own, before ceding the stage to Southee. He dismissed Ajinkya Rahane for 57 in the 28th over and followed it with the bigger wicket of MS Dhoni. Rahane shuffled across and was trapped plumb in front by a straight ball while Dhoni was bowled through the gate for 11 off 31 balls.
India, however, had started positively in their chase, with Rahane jumping onto any width offered and swatting away short balls with authority. He even uppercut Trent Boult for a six over point. He strung together 79 for the second wicket with Virat Kohli, who played a few trademark whiplash drives and punches. Mitchell Santner, meanwhile, held his own and spun a few past the outside edge, with his family watching from the stands. And when he found the outside edge there was nobody at slips to snap it up.
The partnership ended in the 20th over when Ish Sodhi found Kohli's outside edge with a slower legbreak and BJ Watling, who was playing his first ODI since February 2013, pouched it. The middle order then faded away, and although Axar showed glimpses of bravado in his cameo - 38 off 40 balls - India are yet to identify a genuine finisher with only four ODIs to go for the Champions Trophy.
New Zealand, on the other hand, ticked many boxes. For starters they read the conditions expertly, picking three spinners and taking the mind back to their success in the World T20. Guptill struck his second fifty of the tour. Latham was solid as usual, and Ross Taylor, under fire from all quarters, spent some time in the middle, although he was edgy throughout his stay.
But the most telling contribution, perhaps, arrived from Guptill. He didn't always look pretty, but bent India's attack out of shape in the Powerplay. He gave Kulkarni a cold welcome, hitting three fours off four balls. The first two were skewed drives wide of point and over mid-on. The third was disdainfully scythed through extra cover. He pressed on to unfurl sublime inside-out drives too. The nature of the pitch put in perspective Guptill's early assault. As the match wore on, the odd ball kept low while several stopped on the batsmen. A couple of grubbers even raised a puff of dust from the surface.
India could have had Guptill on 29, but Amit Mishra could not hold on to one after diving to his left from mid-on - a decent effort, but he might have done better if he were a bit quicker to react. Mishra gave him another life later on, misjudging a much simpler catch at long-off when Guptill was on 62.
Guptill had reached his half-century off 56 balls at the start of the 17th over, four balls after Axar had Latham edging a sweep to short fine leg for 39 off 40 balls. By then Axar and Mishra had settled into an asphyxiating rhythm. Guptill needed 12 balls to score his first run against spin, and was further stifled by Jadhav's loopy offbreaks and straighter ones. The spinners conceded only 19 runs in the seven overs from the 11th to the 17th. But it was Pandya who ultimately removed Guptill, when he had him playing inside the line and edging behind to leave New Zealand at 139 for 2 in 26 overs.
Mishra dragged them back further by removing Kane Williamson and Neesham in successive overs. New Zealand scrounged only 99 runs for five wickets from the last 20 overs of their innings, and only three boundaries in the last ten overs, including one of the final ball of the innings. But it proved enough to square the series.
Monday 24 October 2016
1st Test Day 5 BAN V ENG
England 293 & 240: Stokes 85, Shakib 5-85
Bangladesh 248 & 263: Sabbir 64*, Batty 3-65
England won by 22 runs
England rescued a 22-run victory on the final morning of an intriguing first Test in Chittagong as man of the match Ben Stokes took the final two wickets.
Bangladesh began the day needing 33 to beat England for the first time in a Test match, with two wickets standing.
They calmly added 10 runs before Taijul Islam was given out lbw after a review.
Two balls later Stokes removed last man Shafiul Islam, who was given out lbw and failed to overturn it on review as Bangladesh were dismissed for 263.
Going into the game Bangladesh had won only seven of their 93 Tests and have beaten only Zimbabwe and an under-strength West Indies.
Reprieved by review
In a match featuring a record 26 decisions reviewed, it was perhaps inevitable that the end came with trial by television.
England's first wicket was a less-than-confident appeal, but they had two new referrals at their disposal after the 80-over mark in the innings and they were slipping increasingly close to defeat.
Taijul shuffled across his stumps trying to turn the ball to leg and the ball flew off the pad for what would have been valuable leg byes, but England gambled on a review, which suggested the ball would have just straightened enough to hit the top of leg stump.
The match ended two balls later as last man Shafiul was hit on the pad outside the line of off stump, which would ordinarily be not out if the umpires were satisfied the batsman had made an attempt to play the ball.
But umpire Kumar Dharmasena deemed that no shot was played, although others might have argued it was more likely to be the limited technique of a number 11 batsman being beaten for pace by a reverse-swinging delivery approaching 90mph.
Although Shafiul called for a review, third umpire S Ravi backed his on-field colleague and the decision stood.
Stokes the hero again for England
It was also fitting that the final wicket should have been taken by Stokes, who was unsurprisingly handed the man-of-the-match award.
The all-rounder took four late wickets in Bangladesh's first innings, followed by 85 with the bat in England's second, and he was chosen to partner Stuart Broad in an all-seam attack on the final morning.
Stokes tested Taijul with a bouncer that the tailender gloved over wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for four.
But full deliveries accounted for the last two batsmen in a final day's play which lasted only 3.3 overs, ending a fantastic match that fluctuated throughout.
Bangladesh 248 & 263: Sabbir 64*, Batty 3-65
England won by 22 runs
England rescued a 22-run victory on the final morning of an intriguing first Test in Chittagong as man of the match Ben Stokes took the final two wickets.
Bangladesh began the day needing 33 to beat England for the first time in a Test match, with two wickets standing.
They calmly added 10 runs before Taijul Islam was given out lbw after a review.
Two balls later Stokes removed last man Shafiul Islam, who was given out lbw and failed to overturn it on review as Bangladesh were dismissed for 263.
Going into the game Bangladesh had won only seven of their 93 Tests and have beaten only Zimbabwe and an under-strength West Indies.
Reprieved by review
In a match featuring a record 26 decisions reviewed, it was perhaps inevitable that the end came with trial by television.
England's first wicket was a less-than-confident appeal, but they had two new referrals at their disposal after the 80-over mark in the innings and they were slipping increasingly close to defeat.
Taijul shuffled across his stumps trying to turn the ball to leg and the ball flew off the pad for what would have been valuable leg byes, but England gambled on a review, which suggested the ball would have just straightened enough to hit the top of leg stump.
The match ended two balls later as last man Shafiul was hit on the pad outside the line of off stump, which would ordinarily be not out if the umpires were satisfied the batsman had made an attempt to play the ball.
But umpire Kumar Dharmasena deemed that no shot was played, although others might have argued it was more likely to be the limited technique of a number 11 batsman being beaten for pace by a reverse-swinging delivery approaching 90mph.
Although Shafiul called for a review, third umpire S Ravi backed his on-field colleague and the decision stood.
Stokes the hero again for England
It was also fitting that the final wicket should have been taken by Stokes, who was unsurprisingly handed the man-of-the-match award.
The all-rounder took four late wickets in Bangladesh's first innings, followed by 85 with the bat in England's second, and he was chosen to partner Stuart Broad in an all-seam attack on the final morning.
Stokes tested Taijul with a bouncer that the tailender gloved over wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for four.
But full deliveries accounted for the last two batsmen in a final day's play which lasted only 3.3 overs, ending a fantastic match that fluctuated throughout.
Sunday 23 October 2016
3rd ODI IND 2-1 NZ
New Zealand 285 (49.4 ov)
India 289/3 (48.2 ov)
India won by 7 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)
Virat Kohli scored yet another hundred in a chase, an unbeaten 154, as India hunted down 286 to take a 2-1 lead in the ODI series. India lost their openers with only 41 on the board, before Kohli and MS Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 4, added 151 for the third wicket to bring the equation down to 94 from 85 balls. New Zealand may have sensed an opening, given the inexperience of India's middle order, but Manish Pandey showed no nerves in adding an unbroken 97 with Kohli to steer India home with 10 balls remaining.
The team batting second had won each of the last three ODIs in Mohali before this, chasing down 299, 258 and 304. Given that recent trend, given the likelihood of dew setting in under lights, and given Kohli's record in chases, New Zealand probably needed at least 300 to test India on a flat batting surface with true bounce.
They looked like they would get there, when a 73-run second-wicket partnership between Tom Latham and Ross Taylor took them to 153 for 2 in the 29th over, but a middle-order collapse cost them what turned out to be a significant amount of momentum. They lost six wickets for 46 runs in the space of 9.2 overs. James Neesham and Matt Henry added 84 for the ninth wicket to rejuvenate their innings, but their total of 285 was probably 20 runs short of posing India a serious challenge.
Then they did the unthinkable: Kohli was on 6 when he opened his bat face to try and dab Henry to third man. He was probably looking to place the ball finer than he did, but ended up steering it straight to Taylor at wide slip. Tumbling to his right, Taylor dropped a regulation low catch.
Either side of that, though, they sent back Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, and prompted Dhoni to walk in earlier than he usually does in ODIs. With Kohli and Dhoni at the crease, plenty of hard running was to be expected, but they also found the boundary regularly, going after Mitchell Santner and Neesham to hit four fours and a six from overs 15 to 18. The six, sent soaring over long-off against Santner's left-arm spin, took Dhoni to 9000 ODI runs. He became the 17th player overall, the fifth Indian, and the third wicketkeeper to the mark.
By the 26th over, both had brought up their fifties, and then Dhoni welcomed Neesham's reintroduction with a straight six that hit the sightscreen on the full, to become the most prolific ODI six-hitter among Indian batsmen. By the end of the 35th over, the target was less than 100 runs away.
Dhoni fell on 80, chipping Henry to short cover when he rolled his fingers over the ball and got it to stop on the batsman. Santner sent down a tight 37th over, conceding only one run, and India suddenly needed 93 from 78, but Pandey showed he could be relied on to find the boundary in such circumstances, flat-batting a short ball from Henry back over the bowler's head, and targeting the same boundary in more conventional fashion against Neesham, off a fuller ball.
By now, Kohli had stepped up a gear as well. When Tim Southee brought fine leg into the circle, he used his wrists to take a hip-high ball from middle stump and whip it wide of the fielder, and was impressed enough with his own shot to pump his fist. His reaction was far more muted when he guided Neesham for a single to third man to bring up his hundred at the start of the next over, just a simple lift of the bat to the crowd.
Then, in the 48th over, came a typical flurry of late boundaries, against Trent Boult: three fours - the best of them an open-faced jab off a near-yorker to beat deep point to his left - and a straight six. It left India just one run to get, and Pandey finished by slugging Southee to the midwicket boundary.
Sent in to bat on a pitch where the ball came on and allowed batsmen to play freely on the up, New Zealand's openers made their best start of the series. They were watchful initially, scoring only 12 in the first three overs, before Martin Guptill walked down the track to the first ball of the fourth and launched Hardik Pandya for a massive six over long-on. That shot set the tone for an abrupt change of gear: Guptill hit two fours and another six in the next two overs, and Tom Latham joined him by pulling Umesh Yadav over the square-leg boundary.
Just when Guptill seemed set for a big innings, Umesh had him lbw, nipping one back just enough to beat his inside edge. Kane Williamson looked in sublime touch after his hundred in Delhi, timing his drives sweetly until he fell against the run of play, lbw trying to sweep Kedar Jadhav.
Taylor began scratchily, struggling to pierce the infield against Amit Mishra and Axar Patel, but having only scored 14 off his first 28 balls, he began to find some fluency, hitting two fours and a slog-swept six to move to 44 off 56. His partnership with Latham, who got his second half-century of the series, had moved past 70, and New Zealand's score had crossed the 150-run mark.
Just then, Mishra produced two beautiful, dipping legbreaks to have both Taylor and Luke Ronchi stumped. At the other end, Corey Anderson and Latham chipped Jadhav to fielders inside the circle. Santner popped a leading edge, off Jasprit Bumrah, to point, and Tim Southee inside-edged Umesh onto his stumps.
At 199 for 8, New Zealand were in danger of getting bowled out a long way short of 50 overs, but Neesham and Henry delayed it. Neesham worked out a sensible method to score his runs, his first three boundaries all struck with a straight bat down the ground, and Henry, at the other end, went after anything wide - slashing and punching Umesh for two fours - while defending anything on his stumps.
As the slog overs approached, Umesh's old failings resurfaced, as short balls followed wide length balls that allowed the batsmen to free their arms. In the 47th over, Neesham stood tall and pulled him through midwicket before slicing a wide-ish ball to the third-man boundary to bring up his half-century. Henry hit him for a six and two fours off successive balls in the 49th over, and Umesh ended with figures of 3 for 75. New Zealand were bowled out with two balls still left to play, but managed to score 285.
India 289/3 (48.2 ov)
India won by 7 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)
Virat Kohli scored yet another hundred in a chase, an unbeaten 154, as India hunted down 286 to take a 2-1 lead in the ODI series. India lost their openers with only 41 on the board, before Kohli and MS Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 4, added 151 for the third wicket to bring the equation down to 94 from 85 balls. New Zealand may have sensed an opening, given the inexperience of India's middle order, but Manish Pandey showed no nerves in adding an unbroken 97 with Kohli to steer India home with 10 balls remaining.
The team batting second had won each of the last three ODIs in Mohali before this, chasing down 299, 258 and 304. Given that recent trend, given the likelihood of dew setting in under lights, and given Kohli's record in chases, New Zealand probably needed at least 300 to test India on a flat batting surface with true bounce.
They looked like they would get there, when a 73-run second-wicket partnership between Tom Latham and Ross Taylor took them to 153 for 2 in the 29th over, but a middle-order collapse cost them what turned out to be a significant amount of momentum. They lost six wickets for 46 runs in the space of 9.2 overs. James Neesham and Matt Henry added 84 for the ninth wicket to rejuvenate their innings, but their total of 285 was probably 20 runs short of posing India a serious challenge.
Then they did the unthinkable: Kohli was on 6 when he opened his bat face to try and dab Henry to third man. He was probably looking to place the ball finer than he did, but ended up steering it straight to Taylor at wide slip. Tumbling to his right, Taylor dropped a regulation low catch.
Either side of that, though, they sent back Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, and prompted Dhoni to walk in earlier than he usually does in ODIs. With Kohli and Dhoni at the crease, plenty of hard running was to be expected, but they also found the boundary regularly, going after Mitchell Santner and Neesham to hit four fours and a six from overs 15 to 18. The six, sent soaring over long-off against Santner's left-arm spin, took Dhoni to 9000 ODI runs. He became the 17th player overall, the fifth Indian, and the third wicketkeeper to the mark.
By the 26th over, both had brought up their fifties, and then Dhoni welcomed Neesham's reintroduction with a straight six that hit the sightscreen on the full, to become the most prolific ODI six-hitter among Indian batsmen. By the end of the 35th over, the target was less than 100 runs away.
Dhoni fell on 80, chipping Henry to short cover when he rolled his fingers over the ball and got it to stop on the batsman. Santner sent down a tight 37th over, conceding only one run, and India suddenly needed 93 from 78, but Pandey showed he could be relied on to find the boundary in such circumstances, flat-batting a short ball from Henry back over the bowler's head, and targeting the same boundary in more conventional fashion against Neesham, off a fuller ball.
By now, Kohli had stepped up a gear as well. When Tim Southee brought fine leg into the circle, he used his wrists to take a hip-high ball from middle stump and whip it wide of the fielder, and was impressed enough with his own shot to pump his fist. His reaction was far more muted when he guided Neesham for a single to third man to bring up his hundred at the start of the next over, just a simple lift of the bat to the crowd.
Then, in the 48th over, came a typical flurry of late boundaries, against Trent Boult: three fours - the best of them an open-faced jab off a near-yorker to beat deep point to his left - and a straight six. It left India just one run to get, and Pandey finished by slugging Southee to the midwicket boundary.
Sent in to bat on a pitch where the ball came on and allowed batsmen to play freely on the up, New Zealand's openers made their best start of the series. They were watchful initially, scoring only 12 in the first three overs, before Martin Guptill walked down the track to the first ball of the fourth and launched Hardik Pandya for a massive six over long-on. That shot set the tone for an abrupt change of gear: Guptill hit two fours and another six in the next two overs, and Tom Latham joined him by pulling Umesh Yadav over the square-leg boundary.
Just when Guptill seemed set for a big innings, Umesh had him lbw, nipping one back just enough to beat his inside edge. Kane Williamson looked in sublime touch after his hundred in Delhi, timing his drives sweetly until he fell against the run of play, lbw trying to sweep Kedar Jadhav.
Taylor began scratchily, struggling to pierce the infield against Amit Mishra and Axar Patel, but having only scored 14 off his first 28 balls, he began to find some fluency, hitting two fours and a slog-swept six to move to 44 off 56. His partnership with Latham, who got his second half-century of the series, had moved past 70, and New Zealand's score had crossed the 150-run mark.
Just then, Mishra produced two beautiful, dipping legbreaks to have both Taylor and Luke Ronchi stumped. At the other end, Corey Anderson and Latham chipped Jadhav to fielders inside the circle. Santner popped a leading edge, off Jasprit Bumrah, to point, and Tim Southee inside-edged Umesh onto his stumps.
At 199 for 8, New Zealand were in danger of getting bowled out a long way short of 50 overs, but Neesham and Henry delayed it. Neesham worked out a sensible method to score his runs, his first three boundaries all struck with a straight bat down the ground, and Henry, at the other end, went after anything wide - slashing and punching Umesh for two fours - while defending anything on his stumps.
As the slog overs approached, Umesh's old failings resurfaced, as short balls followed wide length balls that allowed the batsmen to free their arms. In the 47th over, Neesham stood tall and pulled him through midwicket before slicing a wide-ish ball to the third-man boundary to bring up his half-century. Henry hit him for a six and two fours off successive balls in the 49th over, and Umesh ended with figures of 3 for 75. New Zealand were bowled out with two balls still left to play, but managed to score 285.
1st Test Day 4 BAN V ENG
England 293 & 240 (80.2 overs): Stokes 85, Shakib 5-85
Bangladesh 248 & 253-8 (78 overs): Sabbir 59*, Batty 3-65
England lead by 32 runs
Bangladesh need a further 33 runs with just two wickets left for a first Test victory over England, after closing day four on 253-8 in Chittagong.
England's final two wickets lasted barely four overs and added only 12 runs as they were all out for 240, leaving the hosts with a target of 286.
Imrul Kayes struck 43 and Mushfiqur Rahim (39) put on 87 with debutant Sabbir Rahman as they raced to 227-5.
Gareth Batty took 3-65 but Sabbir, dropped on 34, remains unbeaten on 59.
Bangladesh have won only seven of their previous 93 Tests, losing all eight matches against England to date.
Their only victories have come against Zimbabwe and an under-strength West Indies.
Tigers pair find perfect blend
Bangladesh have scored more than 286 in the fourth innings on three previous occasions against England but have lost each time.
England should have ensured their target was over 300, but there was a needless run-out in the second over of the day when Stuart Broad was well short of his ground attempting an injudicious single to gully.
Kayes was immediately keen to attack when England opened with their two off-spinners, 39-year-old Batty in his first Test since 2005, and Moeen Ali, the man who took three wickets in the first innings.
But the fact the Tigers still have a golden opportunity to record a momentous win is down to the 163-ball sixth-wicket partnership between their defiant, astute captain and the counter-attacking of 24-year-old Sabbir.
Fortunes continue to fluctuate
The spirited Batty claimed lbws in consecutive overs, both after reviews from either team, and the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan, after one enormous six in his 24, appeared to have put England in command with 146 needed from the final five wickets.
But 24-year-old Sabbir clobbered Moeen for two sixes on both sides of the wicket and rattled up 23 from his first 20 balls.
He survived a difficult low chance down the leg-side to Jonny Bairstow off Broad with 83 needed but the fervent home support was silenced when captain Mushfiqur departed 59 short of the winning post, as Batty got one to spit up at him and take the glove, another example of the wearing surface.
Broad then produced a spirited spell, with seam often favoured over spin as the Tigers attacked, the 30 overs from the England quicker bowlers conceding only 51 runs.
Broad claimed wickets in consecutive overs to put England in sight of victory but number 10 Taijul Islam edged Batty through the hands of Ben Stokes only yards away from the bat in the gully as both teams felt the tension under the floodlights.
The one conclusion nobody was expecting was the umpires taking the players off for bad light 12 minutes earlier than the previous evening had finished.
Bangladesh 248 & 253-8 (78 overs): Sabbir 59*, Batty 3-65
England lead by 32 runs
Bangladesh need a further 33 runs with just two wickets left for a first Test victory over England, after closing day four on 253-8 in Chittagong.
England's final two wickets lasted barely four overs and added only 12 runs as they were all out for 240, leaving the hosts with a target of 286.
Imrul Kayes struck 43 and Mushfiqur Rahim (39) put on 87 with debutant Sabbir Rahman as they raced to 227-5.
Gareth Batty took 3-65 but Sabbir, dropped on 34, remains unbeaten on 59.
Bangladesh have won only seven of their previous 93 Tests, losing all eight matches against England to date.
Their only victories have come against Zimbabwe and an under-strength West Indies.
Tigers pair find perfect blend
Bangladesh have scored more than 286 in the fourth innings on three previous occasions against England but have lost each time.
England should have ensured their target was over 300, but there was a needless run-out in the second over of the day when Stuart Broad was well short of his ground attempting an injudicious single to gully.
Kayes was immediately keen to attack when England opened with their two off-spinners, 39-year-old Batty in his first Test since 2005, and Moeen Ali, the man who took three wickets in the first innings.
But the fact the Tigers still have a golden opportunity to record a momentous win is down to the 163-ball sixth-wicket partnership between their defiant, astute captain and the counter-attacking of 24-year-old Sabbir.
Fortunes continue to fluctuate
The spirited Batty claimed lbws in consecutive overs, both after reviews from either team, and the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan, after one enormous six in his 24, appeared to have put England in command with 146 needed from the final five wickets.
But 24-year-old Sabbir clobbered Moeen for two sixes on both sides of the wicket and rattled up 23 from his first 20 balls.
He survived a difficult low chance down the leg-side to Jonny Bairstow off Broad with 83 needed but the fervent home support was silenced when captain Mushfiqur departed 59 short of the winning post, as Batty got one to spit up at him and take the glove, another example of the wearing surface.
Broad then produced a spirited spell, with seam often favoured over spin as the Tigers attacked, the 30 overs from the England quicker bowlers conceding only 51 runs.
Broad claimed wickets in consecutive overs to put England in sight of victory but number 10 Taijul Islam edged Batty through the hands of Ben Stokes only yards away from the bat in the gully as both teams felt the tension under the floodlights.
The one conclusion nobody was expecting was the umpires taking the players off for bad light 12 minutes earlier than the previous evening had finished.
Saturday 22 October 2016
1st Test Day 3 BAN V ENG
England 293 & 228-8 (76 overs): Stokes 85, Shakib 5-79
Bangladesh 248 (86 overs): Tamim 78, Mushfiqur 48, Stokes 4-26
England lead by 273 runs
Ben Stokes produced an outstanding all-round display as England built a lead of 273 after three days of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.
His spell of 3-9 saw the hosts all out for 248, losing 5-27 in 12 overs to concede a first innings lead of 45.
England then slipped to 28-3 at lunch and were only 107 ahead when Moeen Ali became the fifth man to depart.
But Stokes hit three sixes in a superb 85, putting on 127 with Jonny Bairstow (47) as England closed on 228-8.
Stokes finished with 4-26 - the best figures by any overseas pace bowler at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium - and England will be confident of maintaining their 100% record against the Tigers, having won all eight of their previous encounters.
The match remains delicately poised, though, after Shakib Al Hasan's 15th five-wicket haul gave the home side hope.
Bangladesh 248 (86 overs): Tamim 78, Mushfiqur 48, Stokes 4-26
England lead by 273 runs
Ben Stokes produced an outstanding all-round display as England built a lead of 273 after three days of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.
His spell of 3-9 saw the hosts all out for 248, losing 5-27 in 12 overs to concede a first innings lead of 45.
England then slipped to 28-3 at lunch and were only 107 ahead when Moeen Ali became the fifth man to depart.
But Stokes hit three sixes in a superb 85, putting on 127 with Jonny Bairstow (47) as England closed on 228-8.
Stokes finished with 4-26 - the best figures by any overseas pace bowler at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium - and England will be confident of maintaining their 100% record against the Tigers, having won all eight of their previous encounters.
The match remains delicately poised, though, after Shakib Al Hasan's 15th five-wicket haul gave the home side hope.
Friday 21 October 2016
1st Test Day 2 BAN V ENG
England 293 (105.5 overs): Moeen 68, Mehedi 6-80
Bangladesh 221-5 (74 overs): Tamim 78, Moeen 2-66
England lead by 72 runs
Bangladesh moved to within 72 runs of England at 221-5 after two days of a captivating first Test in Chittagong.
Resuming on 258-7, England lost Chris Woakes to the first ball of the day and were all out for 293, debutant spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz finishing with 6-80.
Moeen Ali claimed two wickets in the final over before lunch but Tamim Iqbal made an assured 78, with seven fours.
Gareth Batty struck in his first Test since 2005 but Mushfiqur Rahim made a stoic 48 before falling to Ben Stokes.
Bangladesh have lost all eight of their previous Test matches against England.
It is the first meeting between the teams at Test level since 2010 and Bangladesh's first match in the longest form of the game since August last year.
England frustrated in the heat
The England spinners stuck valiantly to their task, but were unable to match the consistent brilliance 18-year-old Mehedi had shown with the ball.
Returning to Test cricket after an absence of 11 years and 137 days, Batty opened the bowling, only the third time since 1928 that England have begun a first innings with a spinner.
There was no immediate fairytale as his first delivery was savagely cut to the boundary and it was Moeen - England's top-scorer with the bat - who made the breakthrough with a magical delivery that pitched on middle stump and clipped the off bail of left-hander Imrul Kayes.
Three balls later Moeen found more turn and bounce to find the edge of Mominul Haque, caught at slip via wicketkeeper Bairstow's pad.
But Moeen could not repeat his exploits for the remainder of the day and though Adil Rashid dislodged Mahmudullah in the final over before tea, he had shared a 90-run partnership with Tamim.
Left-hander Tamim, who successfully reviewed a catch to slip on 55, has now scored five fifties and two centuries in nine Test innings against England but was denied an eighth Test hundred when he got a bottom edge to 39-year-old Batty.
In the closing stages under the floodlights it was the seamers who looked more dangerous, Stokes ending an obdurate partnership of 58 by finding Mushfiqur's edge for the first wicket by a pace bowler in the match.
Bangladesh peg back England
After seeing the pitch spin so dramatically on day one, England's quest for an imposing total was immediately dented when Woakes was smartly caught at short-leg.
Stuart Broad, no stranger to the review system, had successfully overturned an lbw dismissal but was the final wicket to fall when the Ultraedge system detected the merest noise from the bat to see him caught behind off Mehedi, bowling his 40th over.
Remarkably it was the 10th occasion in which the review system was used during the innings, a new Test record.
It was also the first time since December 1987 that all 10 England wickets had fallen to spin.
Bangladesh 221-5 (74 overs): Tamim 78, Moeen 2-66
England lead by 72 runs
Bangladesh moved to within 72 runs of England at 221-5 after two days of a captivating first Test in Chittagong.
Resuming on 258-7, England lost Chris Woakes to the first ball of the day and were all out for 293, debutant spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz finishing with 6-80.
Moeen Ali claimed two wickets in the final over before lunch but Tamim Iqbal made an assured 78, with seven fours.
Gareth Batty struck in his first Test since 2005 but Mushfiqur Rahim made a stoic 48 before falling to Ben Stokes.
Bangladesh have lost all eight of their previous Test matches against England.
It is the first meeting between the teams at Test level since 2010 and Bangladesh's first match in the longest form of the game since August last year.
England frustrated in the heat
The England spinners stuck valiantly to their task, but were unable to match the consistent brilliance 18-year-old Mehedi had shown with the ball.
Returning to Test cricket after an absence of 11 years and 137 days, Batty opened the bowling, only the third time since 1928 that England have begun a first innings with a spinner.
There was no immediate fairytale as his first delivery was savagely cut to the boundary and it was Moeen - England's top-scorer with the bat - who made the breakthrough with a magical delivery that pitched on middle stump and clipped the off bail of left-hander Imrul Kayes.
Three balls later Moeen found more turn and bounce to find the edge of Mominul Haque, caught at slip via wicketkeeper Bairstow's pad.
But Moeen could not repeat his exploits for the remainder of the day and though Adil Rashid dislodged Mahmudullah in the final over before tea, he had shared a 90-run partnership with Tamim.
Left-hander Tamim, who successfully reviewed a catch to slip on 55, has now scored five fifties and two centuries in nine Test innings against England but was denied an eighth Test hundred when he got a bottom edge to 39-year-old Batty.
In the closing stages under the floodlights it was the seamers who looked more dangerous, Stokes ending an obdurate partnership of 58 by finding Mushfiqur's edge for the first wicket by a pace bowler in the match.
Bangladesh peg back England
After seeing the pitch spin so dramatically on day one, England's quest for an imposing total was immediately dented when Woakes was smartly caught at short-leg.
Stuart Broad, no stranger to the review system, had successfully overturned an lbw dismissal but was the final wicket to fall when the Ultraedge system detected the merest noise from the bat to see him caught behind off Mehedi, bowling his 40th over.
Remarkably it was the 10th occasion in which the review system was used during the innings, a new Test record.
It was also the first time since December 1987 that all 10 England wickets had fallen to spin.
2nd ODI IND 1-1 NZ
NZ 242/9 beat IND 236 by 6 runs
India would not have expected a target of 243 to trouble them. But it did. Their top order tends to finish games off. Not this time. That left the job to MS Dhoni and a set of batsmen not accustomed to finishing an innings. New Zealand exploited that weakness to pull off a six-run victory and level the five-match series at 1-1.
It was a chaotic scrap at the finish, which brought a noisy crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla to their feet. India were 172 for 6 - and the man dismissed was the captain, who was also their best option against an equation of 71 runs in 63 balls. Then a goofy over from Martin Guptill - four wides, ten balls, and two wickets - brought Hardik Pandya front and centre for the second match in a row.
In Dharamsala, he offered a glimpse at his utility as a new-ball bowler. In Delhi, he suggested he has promise as a man who could come in late and stay sensible under pressure. He wrestled an equation of 48 off 36 balls down to 11 off eight. India had two wickets left.
In that time, New Zealand's disciplines were taking a beating. It was the final overs of the innings, but they did not look for the blockhole. Most of their success was a result of the fast bowlers hitting back of a length on a pitch that was slow and holding up, meaning neither using the pace nor forcing it was a good idea.
The problem was, late into the night, the dew started to take effect. That meant it got a little easier to hit the ball through the line. It also meant New Zealand's fielders, who were simply remarkable, were suddenly slipping all over the place. It was the kind of situation - with things starting to turn at the worst possible time - that could have broken anyone's resolve. If only for the fact that the opposition's ninth-wicket partnership racked up 49 at a run-a-ball.
But that's when the big players stand up. On came Trent Boult - back in the XI after a rest - and he conceded only six runs in the penultimate over and also got rid of Pandya. Tim Southee sealed India's fate with a yorker.
Kane Williamson played a vital part to his team's revival as well, scoring New Zealand's first century on the tour. He came to the crease in the first over and did not budge until the 43rd. By that time he had 118 runs off 128 balls. It was the best innings of the day, and perhaps along the way he understood that runs on the board was not a bad place to be.
Besides the fact that New Zealand has been unable to win a single match on tour - they have struggled to win tosses too - plenty of challenges came Williamson's way. Not least of which was his own body refusing to cooperate. He began cramping up in the Delhi heat - and it became contagious. His left forearm caught it first, then his right, and at one point he couldn't even lift a bottle to drink. But when play resumed, he smacked Pandya over his head to the long-on boundary.
He picked 65 of his runs in the arc between backward square leg and wide mid-on, which in the early part of the innings, was usually only manned by one or two men. His first boundary came through midwicket which was left vacant, punishment for Umesh Yadav straying too straight with a 7-2 offside field. His first, and only, six of the innings exemplified how well he knew the field. Mid-on had been up. He danced down and lofted Patel over his head in the 13th over. When Patel was taken off and Mishra was brought on, Williamson cut and flicked the bowler for boundaries to make sure India's spinners couldn't threaten him or his team-mates.
In the field, Williamson had to make sure India's batsmen didn't bully his bowlers. And he received some unexpected help in this regard.
Rohit Sharma was caught behind for 15 off Boult, who had strung back-to-back maidens before the breakthrough. Four overs later, Virat Kohli was caught behind off a silly old delivery down leg. The chase had come alive for New Zealand.
India's 40 for 2 became 73 for 4 after two grand fielding efforts.
Corey Anderson, prowling on the long leg boundary, tracked down a pull from Ajinkya Rahane and dived forward to complete a low catch. India would have felt aggrieved at the decision though, because the on-field umpires referred it to the third umpire, and informed him via soft signal that they thought it was out. Despite plenty of replays - some angles suggesting the ball had bounced up into Anderson's hands, others indicated the fielder could have had his hands under the ball and it bounced on his fingers into his palm - there was no conclusive evidence to overrule that call. And so C Shamshuddin had to send Rahane on his way for 28 off 49.
Manish Pandey was run out by the combination of a sharp throw from Mitchell Santner and a phenomenal collection from Luke Ronchi to break the stumps.
Then came the coup de grâce. Southee, coming back for a third spell, got a ball to stop on Dhoni. A push down the ground for a single became a catching opportunity. A very difficult one. Southee had to dive to his right - against the direction of his followthrough - and get low to have a chance. He kept his eyes on the ball, the slow motion pictures highlight his concentration as he stuck one hand out and came away with one of the biggest match-changing moments in the day.
While these were spectacular displays, doing the little things right was equally beneficial for New Zealand. They bowled out their spinners in the middle overs; Santner, costing less than five runs an over, was done by the 39th and part-timer Anton Devcich, bowling left-arm sliders with the seam pointed upright more often than not, bowled nine overs for only 48 runs. Not a bad day's work after two years' absence from ODI cricket.
Williamson was comfortable using them for three reasons - they were accurate, the dew took time to set in, and India couldn't attack either bowler. Their top order had failed and even with a set Dhoni at the crease, the target was too far away.
India were 139 for 5 in the 32nd over. They tried to take it deep. They wanted to see if New Zealand would break at the end. But that was when the batsmen were worse off. India themselves had exploited that when they bowled, giving away only one boundary in the last 10 overs. It was early on that run-making was easy, as exemplified by the 120-run partnership between Williamson and Tom Latham, who made 46 in as many balls.
There remains a couple of concerns for New Zealand. Guptill bagged a duck and Ross Taylor made a painful 21 off 42, worked over so completely that it seemed like the ball had a restraining order against the middle of his bat. But little would make this win - their first on the tour and one so richly earned - taste sour.
India would not have expected a target of 243 to trouble them. But it did. Their top order tends to finish games off. Not this time. That left the job to MS Dhoni and a set of batsmen not accustomed to finishing an innings. New Zealand exploited that weakness to pull off a six-run victory and level the five-match series at 1-1.
It was a chaotic scrap at the finish, which brought a noisy crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla to their feet. India were 172 for 6 - and the man dismissed was the captain, who was also their best option against an equation of 71 runs in 63 balls. Then a goofy over from Martin Guptill - four wides, ten balls, and two wickets - brought Hardik Pandya front and centre for the second match in a row.
In Dharamsala, he offered a glimpse at his utility as a new-ball bowler. In Delhi, he suggested he has promise as a man who could come in late and stay sensible under pressure. He wrestled an equation of 48 off 36 balls down to 11 off eight. India had two wickets left.
In that time, New Zealand's disciplines were taking a beating. It was the final overs of the innings, but they did not look for the blockhole. Most of their success was a result of the fast bowlers hitting back of a length on a pitch that was slow and holding up, meaning neither using the pace nor forcing it was a good idea.
The problem was, late into the night, the dew started to take effect. That meant it got a little easier to hit the ball through the line. It also meant New Zealand's fielders, who were simply remarkable, were suddenly slipping all over the place. It was the kind of situation - with things starting to turn at the worst possible time - that could have broken anyone's resolve. If only for the fact that the opposition's ninth-wicket partnership racked up 49 at a run-a-ball.
But that's when the big players stand up. On came Trent Boult - back in the XI after a rest - and he conceded only six runs in the penultimate over and also got rid of Pandya. Tim Southee sealed India's fate with a yorker.
Kane Williamson played a vital part to his team's revival as well, scoring New Zealand's first century on the tour. He came to the crease in the first over and did not budge until the 43rd. By that time he had 118 runs off 128 balls. It was the best innings of the day, and perhaps along the way he understood that runs on the board was not a bad place to be.
Besides the fact that New Zealand has been unable to win a single match on tour - they have struggled to win tosses too - plenty of challenges came Williamson's way. Not least of which was his own body refusing to cooperate. He began cramping up in the Delhi heat - and it became contagious. His left forearm caught it first, then his right, and at one point he couldn't even lift a bottle to drink. But when play resumed, he smacked Pandya over his head to the long-on boundary.
He picked 65 of his runs in the arc between backward square leg and wide mid-on, which in the early part of the innings, was usually only manned by one or two men. His first boundary came through midwicket which was left vacant, punishment for Umesh Yadav straying too straight with a 7-2 offside field. His first, and only, six of the innings exemplified how well he knew the field. Mid-on had been up. He danced down and lofted Patel over his head in the 13th over. When Patel was taken off and Mishra was brought on, Williamson cut and flicked the bowler for boundaries to make sure India's spinners couldn't threaten him or his team-mates.
In the field, Williamson had to make sure India's batsmen didn't bully his bowlers. And he received some unexpected help in this regard.
Rohit Sharma was caught behind for 15 off Boult, who had strung back-to-back maidens before the breakthrough. Four overs later, Virat Kohli was caught behind off a silly old delivery down leg. The chase had come alive for New Zealand.
India's 40 for 2 became 73 for 4 after two grand fielding efforts.
Corey Anderson, prowling on the long leg boundary, tracked down a pull from Ajinkya Rahane and dived forward to complete a low catch. India would have felt aggrieved at the decision though, because the on-field umpires referred it to the third umpire, and informed him via soft signal that they thought it was out. Despite plenty of replays - some angles suggesting the ball had bounced up into Anderson's hands, others indicated the fielder could have had his hands under the ball and it bounced on his fingers into his palm - there was no conclusive evidence to overrule that call. And so C Shamshuddin had to send Rahane on his way for 28 off 49.
Manish Pandey was run out by the combination of a sharp throw from Mitchell Santner and a phenomenal collection from Luke Ronchi to break the stumps.
Then came the coup de grâce. Southee, coming back for a third spell, got a ball to stop on Dhoni. A push down the ground for a single became a catching opportunity. A very difficult one. Southee had to dive to his right - against the direction of his followthrough - and get low to have a chance. He kept his eyes on the ball, the slow motion pictures highlight his concentration as he stuck one hand out and came away with one of the biggest match-changing moments in the day.
While these were spectacular displays, doing the little things right was equally beneficial for New Zealand. They bowled out their spinners in the middle overs; Santner, costing less than five runs an over, was done by the 39th and part-timer Anton Devcich, bowling left-arm sliders with the seam pointed upright more often than not, bowled nine overs for only 48 runs. Not a bad day's work after two years' absence from ODI cricket.
Williamson was comfortable using them for three reasons - they were accurate, the dew took time to set in, and India couldn't attack either bowler. Their top order had failed and even with a set Dhoni at the crease, the target was too far away.
India were 139 for 5 in the 32nd over. They tried to take it deep. They wanted to see if New Zealand would break at the end. But that was when the batsmen were worse off. India themselves had exploited that when they bowled, giving away only one boundary in the last 10 overs. It was early on that run-making was easy, as exemplified by the 120-run partnership between Williamson and Tom Latham, who made 46 in as many balls.
There remains a couple of concerns for New Zealand. Guptill bagged a duck and Ross Taylor made a painful 21 off 42, worked over so completely that it seemed like the ball had a restraining order against the middle of his bat. But little would make this win - their first on the tour and one so richly earned - taste sour.
Thursday 20 October 2016
1st Test Day 1 BAN V ENG
(05:00 start) 1st of a 2 test series
STUMPS DAY 1 England 258-7: Moeen 68, Mehedi 5-64
England recovered from a bad start to post 258-7 on day one of the first Test with Bangladesh in Chittagong.
Having chosen to bat, they were 21-3 after 12 overs, 18-year-old off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz striking twice and going on to take 5-64 in 33 overs.
But Moeen Ali, who survived a total of five reviews, hit eight fours and a six in 68, sharing 88 with Jonny Bairstow.
Dropped on 13, Bairstow struck his fourth successive Test fifty, with eight fours in his fluent 52.
Mehedi was one of three debutants for Bangladesh, who used five spinners on an opening day when only 17 of the 92 overs were bowled by seam.
England gave a debut to Northants batsman Ben Duckett - dismissed by Mehedi for 14 at the top of the order - and opted for three spinners, including 39-year-old Gareth Batty, who is playing his first Test since 2005.
Magical Mehedi sparkles in the heat
A former Bangladesh Under-19 captain, Mehedi is the 26th teenager out of the 81 players to have represented his nation in Tests - compared to just five among the 672 England Test players.
Despite his age he was chosen to open the bowling and it proved an inspired decision.
Duckett, 22, who last month became the first player to win the Professional Cricketers' Association Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the same year, tried to smash his first ball in Test cricket to the boundary but made no contact.
Having struck two fours off ineffective seamer Shafiul Islam he was beaten in the ninth over by a magnificent delivery from Mehedi which drifted in towards the pads of the left-hander before zipping off the pitch and rattling the top of off-stump.
Skipper Alastair Cook, playing a record-breaking 134th Test for England, was dismissed by Shakib Al Hasan when a mistimed sweep struck his glove and rolled onto the stumps.
And Mehedi made it three wickets in 14 balls by removing Gary Ballance lbw for a single, with Bangladesh reviewing and the cameras confirming the ball had struck his pad a fraction before the bat and would have gone on to hit the stumps.
Mehedi also took the key wicket of Joe Root, who had looked in complete command until his purposeful 40 from 49 balls ended with an edge caught at slip via the thigh of wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim.
England pair cash in after reprieves
Moeen survived when he had scored one as Bangladesh chose not to review an lbw appeal that replays showed would have dismissed him.
He was given out three times - twice in the first over after lunch - only to be reprieved on referral, while Bangladesh twice thought they had got him, before replays proved otherwise.
Having taken 114 balls to score 29, Moeen only needed another 13 deliveries to reach his fifty, and skipped down the wicket to loft Mehedi over long-on for six.
But Mehedi finally dismissed him with another classic delivery, some sharp spin taking the edge through to Mushfiqur.
Bairstow passed 2,000 Test runs and 1,000 for the calendar year with his fifth half century in his last six Test innings before falling to Mehedi with the second new ball.
England recovered from a bad start to post 258-7 on day one of the first Test with Bangladesh in Chittagong.
Having chosen to bat, they were 21-3 after 12 overs, 18-year-old off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz striking twice and going on to take 5-64 in 33 overs.
But Moeen Ali, who survived a total of five reviews, hit eight fours and a six in 68, sharing 88 with Jonny Bairstow.
Dropped on 13, Bairstow struck his fourth successive Test fifty, with eight fours in his fluent 52.
Mehedi was one of three debutants for Bangladesh, who used five spinners on an opening day when only 17 of the 92 overs were bowled by seam.
England gave a debut to Northants batsman Ben Duckett - dismissed by Mehedi for 14 at the top of the order - and opted for three spinners, including 39-year-old Gareth Batty, who is playing his first Test since 2005.
Magical Mehedi sparkles in the heat
A former Bangladesh Under-19 captain, Mehedi is the 26th teenager out of the 81 players to have represented his nation in Tests - compared to just five among the 672 England Test players.
Despite his age he was chosen to open the bowling and it proved an inspired decision.
Duckett, 22, who last month became the first player to win the Professional Cricketers' Association Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the same year, tried to smash his first ball in Test cricket to the boundary but made no contact.
Having struck two fours off ineffective seamer Shafiul Islam he was beaten in the ninth over by a magnificent delivery from Mehedi which drifted in towards the pads of the left-hander before zipping off the pitch and rattling the top of off-stump.
Skipper Alastair Cook, playing a record-breaking 134th Test for England, was dismissed by Shakib Al Hasan when a mistimed sweep struck his glove and rolled onto the stumps.
And Mehedi made it three wickets in 14 balls by removing Gary Ballance lbw for a single, with Bangladesh reviewing and the cameras confirming the ball had struck his pad a fraction before the bat and would have gone on to hit the stumps.
Mehedi also took the key wicket of Joe Root, who had looked in complete command until his purposeful 40 from 49 balls ended with an edge caught at slip via the thigh of wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim.
England pair cash in after reprieves
Moeen survived when he had scored one as Bangladesh chose not to review an lbw appeal that replays showed would have dismissed him.
He was given out three times - twice in the first over after lunch - only to be reprieved on referral, while Bangladesh twice thought they had got him, before replays proved otherwise.
Having taken 114 balls to score 29, Moeen only needed another 13 deliveries to reach his fifty, and skipped down the wicket to loft Mehedi over long-on for six.
But Mehedi finally dismissed him with another classic delivery, some sharp spin taking the edge through to Mushfiqur.
Bairstow passed 2,000 Test runs and 1,000 for the calendar year with his fifth half century in his last six Test innings before falling to Mehedi with the second new ball.
Sunday 16 October 2016
1st ODI NZ 0-1 IND
New Zealand 190 (43.5 ov)
India 194/4 (33.1 ov)
India won by 6 wickets (with 101 balls remaining)
Sharing the new ball in conditions that initially encouraged seam and swing, Hardik Pandya and Umesh Yadav ran through New Zealand's top order to set India up for a six-wicket win in the first ODI in Dharamsala. From 65 for 7, New Zealand recovered to post a relatively respectable total thanks to Tom Latham, who became the tenth batsman to carry his bat through an ODI innings, and Tim Southee, who struck a 45-ball 55 at No. 10, but a target of 191 was never really going to test India.
Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma got India off to a solid start with a 49-run first-wicket stand, and Virat Kohli took over thereafter, as he does so often in chases big and small, and his unbeaten 81-ball 85, full of trademark cover drives - the straight-bat punched variety as well as the wristy flat-bat swishes - guided India home with 101 balls remaining. He brought up the winning runs with a cleanly struck six off Mitchell Santner, skipping out of his crease and clattering the sightscreen behind the bowler.
Sent in to bat, New Zealand would have been disappointed to get bowled out with 37 balls still remaining in their innings. There was swing early on, a bit of seam movement, and a tendency for the ball to stop on the batsmen occasionally, but nothing so devilish in the conditions to cause their top order to collapse so rapidly.
Opting to bowl first, India sprang a bit of a surprise by handing Hardik Pandya the new ball ahead of Jasprit Bumrah, but the allrounder soon showed why MS Dhoni may have taken this decision.
Fifteen minutes before the toss, Pandya had received his ODI cap from Kapil Dev. He may also have absorbed some lessons about new-ball bowling from the great man: where he has bowled predominantly short in his 16 T20Is so far, Pandya here pitched the ball up and swung it away from the right-handers, while consistently hitting the high 130s.
Having produced two edges and a play-and-miss from Martin Guptill in his first over, Pandya broke through with one that straightened towards off stump, forcing the batsman to play from the crease and nick to second slip.
Then, Umesh Yadav removed New Zealand's two most accomplished batsmen. Kane Williamson slashed the last ball of his third over to third man; then, off the first ball of his fourth over, Ross Taylor, late to withdraw his bat from the line of the ball, edged a perfectly-pitched outswinger to the keeper.
India frustrated Corey Anderson by bowling into his body and denying him room to free his arms, and he made 4 off 13 before seeing a rare glimpse of width and flat-batting Pandya uppishly to the right of mid-off, where Umesh completed a stunning diving catch. The same combination of bowler and fielder then sent back Luke Ronchi, who flicked in the air to mid-on.
When Kedar Jadhav, given the ball for the first time in his ODI career, sent back James Neesham and Mitchell Santner with successive deliveries in the 19th over, New Zealand's innings seemed unlikely to last beyond the 30th over.
Watching all this from the non-striker's end, Latham may have felt slightly puzzled, because he had looked utterly at ease at the crease, playing close to his body, and driving crisply through the covers and down the ground. He needed someone to stay with him. Doug Bracewell did that for 45 balls before flicking Amit Mishra to short midwicket, helping New Zealand past 100, before Southee arrived at the crease.
He could have been out for 2, but Umesh let him off by dropping a straightforward chance at fine leg after he had skied a pull off Bumrah. Southee thanked Umesh and hit two fours in the same over, off the unfortunate Bumrah, punching him on the up through the covers and pulling him through midwicket.
He then skipped down the pitch to Mishra and lofted him inside-out over the covers before launching the first six of his innings, off Axar Patel, over long-off. Before this match, Southee had hit a six every 24 balls, roughly, in his international career. This one came off his 25th ball, evidence of the restraint he had shown initially.
He hit two more sixes on his way to his maiden ODI half-century before skying Mishra to cover in the 42nd over. By then, he had scored 55 out of a partnership of 71 for the ninth wicket. With only No. 11 left for company, Latham went after Mishra, chipping him inside-out for four and slog-sweeping him for six off successive balls, but the innings wasn't to last too much longer. Almost as soon as he had Ish Sodhi in his sights, Mishra trapped him on the crease with one that hurried on straight, legspinner foxing legspinner.
India 194/4 (33.1 ov)
India won by 6 wickets (with 101 balls remaining)
Sharing the new ball in conditions that initially encouraged seam and swing, Hardik Pandya and Umesh Yadav ran through New Zealand's top order to set India up for a six-wicket win in the first ODI in Dharamsala. From 65 for 7, New Zealand recovered to post a relatively respectable total thanks to Tom Latham, who became the tenth batsman to carry his bat through an ODI innings, and Tim Southee, who struck a 45-ball 55 at No. 10, but a target of 191 was never really going to test India.
Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma got India off to a solid start with a 49-run first-wicket stand, and Virat Kohli took over thereafter, as he does so often in chases big and small, and his unbeaten 81-ball 85, full of trademark cover drives - the straight-bat punched variety as well as the wristy flat-bat swishes - guided India home with 101 balls remaining. He brought up the winning runs with a cleanly struck six off Mitchell Santner, skipping out of his crease and clattering the sightscreen behind the bowler.
Sent in to bat, New Zealand would have been disappointed to get bowled out with 37 balls still remaining in their innings. There was swing early on, a bit of seam movement, and a tendency for the ball to stop on the batsmen occasionally, but nothing so devilish in the conditions to cause their top order to collapse so rapidly.
Opting to bowl first, India sprang a bit of a surprise by handing Hardik Pandya the new ball ahead of Jasprit Bumrah, but the allrounder soon showed why MS Dhoni may have taken this decision.
Fifteen minutes before the toss, Pandya had received his ODI cap from Kapil Dev. He may also have absorbed some lessons about new-ball bowling from the great man: where he has bowled predominantly short in his 16 T20Is so far, Pandya here pitched the ball up and swung it away from the right-handers, while consistently hitting the high 130s.
Having produced two edges and a play-and-miss from Martin Guptill in his first over, Pandya broke through with one that straightened towards off stump, forcing the batsman to play from the crease and nick to second slip.
Then, Umesh Yadav removed New Zealand's two most accomplished batsmen. Kane Williamson slashed the last ball of his third over to third man; then, off the first ball of his fourth over, Ross Taylor, late to withdraw his bat from the line of the ball, edged a perfectly-pitched outswinger to the keeper.
India frustrated Corey Anderson by bowling into his body and denying him room to free his arms, and he made 4 off 13 before seeing a rare glimpse of width and flat-batting Pandya uppishly to the right of mid-off, where Umesh completed a stunning diving catch. The same combination of bowler and fielder then sent back Luke Ronchi, who flicked in the air to mid-on.
When Kedar Jadhav, given the ball for the first time in his ODI career, sent back James Neesham and Mitchell Santner with successive deliveries in the 19th over, New Zealand's innings seemed unlikely to last beyond the 30th over.
Watching all this from the non-striker's end, Latham may have felt slightly puzzled, because he had looked utterly at ease at the crease, playing close to his body, and driving crisply through the covers and down the ground. He needed someone to stay with him. Doug Bracewell did that for 45 balls before flicking Amit Mishra to short midwicket, helping New Zealand past 100, before Southee arrived at the crease.
He could have been out for 2, but Umesh let him off by dropping a straightforward chance at fine leg after he had skied a pull off Bumrah. Southee thanked Umesh and hit two fours in the same over, off the unfortunate Bumrah, punching him on the up through the covers and pulling him through midwicket.
He then skipped down the pitch to Mishra and lofted him inside-out over the covers before launching the first six of his innings, off Axar Patel, over long-off. Before this match, Southee had hit a six every 24 balls, roughly, in his international career. This one came off his 25th ball, evidence of the restraint he had shown initially.
He hit two more sixes on his way to his maiden ODI half-century before skying Mishra to cover in the 42nd over. By then, he had scored 55 out of a partnership of 71 for the ninth wicket. With only No. 11 left for company, Latham went after Mishra, chipping him inside-out for four and slog-sweeping him for six off successive balls, but the innings wasn't to last too much longer. Almost as soon as he had Ish Sodhi in his sights, Mishra trapped him on the crease with one that hurried on straight, legspinner foxing legspinner.
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