England made to work hard for win

Graeme Swann removes the last batsman to finish with a 10-wicket match haul as England beat Bangladesh by 181 runs in the first Test.

CHITTAGONG // Graeme Swann spun England to a 181-run victory in the first Test against Bangladesh yesterday, but not before the tourists were made to sweat during a wicketless opening session. Having toiled without reward in the evening session yesterday, England again had to work hard by a 167-run stand between Junaid Siddique and Mushfiqur Rahim on the final morning. The pair faced 524 balls as Junaid registered his country's first Test century against England and Mushfiqur fell five runs short of a second. But Swann, who took a second five-wicket haul to claim his first 10-wicket match, accounted for both after lunch to hasten the win. Alastair Cook, the England captain, can be happy with the result in his first match in charge but will have been concerned by the lack of a cutting edge on the final day. "We were a little bit concerned. Full credit to the way those two [batsmen] fought, they didn't give us any chances," Cook said. "If you apply yourself and bat really well, [you are] really hard to get out."

Cook also paid tribute to Swann when he said: "Swanny has so much control of his game, he is very easy to captain. He knows the fields he wants and you trust him to make the breakthrough." It was not easy to dismiss Bangladesh, who resumed on 191 for five and had survival, rather than the target of 513, on their minds. Runs were a virtual irrelevancy in terms of the game but Mushfiqur will have taken personal pride in a push for four off Steve Finn that brought him a second half-century of the match in the second over. England gratefully accepted the new ball 15 minutes in and Tim Bresnan duly located Mushfiqur's outside edge with his third delivery of the morning, though it landed just short of the slip cordon. In his next over he had Junaid fending away from his body but this time the thick edge zipped for four between two gullies. Luck continued to go against the bowlers, Stuart Broad seeing a strong lbw appeal against Mushfiqur dismissed. Meanwhile, with an attacking field leaving gaps on both sides of the wicket, the Tigers' pair continued to chalk off landmarks. Junaid scored his ton off 262 balls, laced with 14 fours, but he lost some of his authority having reached three figures and finally fell in the second over after what must have been a tense lunch break for England. Swann was the bowler, tossing up a ball that did just enough to glance the bat on its way to Paul Collingwood at slip. Swann marked Junaid's wicket by swearing at the player. "It was not meant as a personal slight on him, just as a release of pent up frustration," Swann said later. The hard work was not quite over, though, with the quirks of the Bangladesh order meaning a one-time opener, Naeem Islam, was waiting at eight. He hit Swann for a four and a six in successive deliveries but Mushfiqur, one big shot away from a richly-deserved hundred, perished attempting to emulate the feat. That gave Swann his ninth wicket of the match. Abdur Razzak lasted just seven balls before Broad beat him for pace to trap him leg before. Shahadat Hossain (12) was dropped by Collingwood, a mistake not repeated by Matt Prior off the bowling of Bresnan before Naeem (36) was caught in the deep by Michael Carberry flicking Swann to mid-wicket, ending a spirited innings on 331. Despite the defeat, Shakib al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, pointed to their second innings performance as proof that they are finding their feet at Test level. "Previously we have only seen one of our batsmen perform at a time. Now we have more than one batsman scoring runs, which is a positive thing," he said. "We are still improving, but we have much more discipline than the side we once were." * PA Sport

England 599-6 decl. & 209-7 decl. Bangladesh 296 & (overnight 191-5): T Iqbal b Swann 14 I Kayes c Prior b Finn 23 J Siddique c Collingwood b Swann 106 A Ahmed c Prior b Bresnan 26 Mahmudullah b Bresnan 5 S Hasan lbw b Swann 4 M Rahim b Swann 95 N Islam c Carberry b Swann 36 A Razzak lbw b Broad 1 S Hossain c Prior b Bresnan 12 R Hossain not out 0 Extras (2b, 7lb) 9 Total (all out; 124 overs) 331 Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-45, 3-99, 4-105, 5-110, 6-277, 7-294, 8-301, 9-327 Bowling: Broad 24-7-65-1 Bresnan 24-7-63-3 Finn 18-7-47-1 Swann 49-11-127-5 Pietersen 7-1-15-0 Trott 2-0-5-0