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Karnataka

Can the Karnataka fast-bowling trio of S Aravind, R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun reprise the magic of the last season?•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Last season, Karnataka erased memories of several years of mediocrity and reclaimed their status as one of the domestic powerhouses by marching to the final, only to lose to Mumbai by six runs in a classic. It was a revamped team: they had a new coach, Sanath Kumar, and several established players like wicketkeeper Thilak Naidu, fast bowler NC Aiyappa and middle-order batsman C Raghu were dropped, replaced by fresh faces like 24-year-old wicketkeeper CM Gautam and fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun.The question this year is whether Karnataka will suffer from sophomore syndrome. “Last year nobody knew what sort of players we have,” Sanath said. “Nobody knew our strengths or weakness, this year everybody is aware of our team, they will come prepared. Our challenge will be to continue last year’s good work.”Much of Karnataka’s success last season was built on the devastating new-ball combination of Mithun and R Vinay Kumar – easily the most successful bowlers of the season, taking the top two spots in the wickets chart, nabbing 93 between them. Both have since broken into the Indian team, and though they are not established members of the national side, Karnataka could miss their services for some parts of the coming season due to international commitments.The bowling had looked ineffective in the absence of the lead pair. Former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, now 40, continues to plug away but had only 16 wickets in eight matches last season. Left-arm seamer S Aravind fared better with 27 wickets, but doesn’t have the pace to be the bowling spearhead. Sanath remains confident the team can cope with loss of Vinay and Mithun. “We have S Aravind, and there’s Adithya Sagar who has been doing extremely well in the Under-22s – in fact, his performances in U-22 is even better than Mithun’s. There are also uncapped players like BN Bharat and Azghar Pasha.”The packed international calendar also means Karnataka will miss the experience and guidance of Rahul Dravid, who made 476 runs at 119 in four matches last season. That means more responsibility for Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey.What they did last seasonIt was a season to remember for Karnataka though the title eluded them. They dominated the league phase, winning four matches – no other team in the country won more than two games – and comfortably took the first-innings lead in the remaining two matches. The quarter-finals against Punjab, who possessed the potent new-ball pair of Love Ablish and Manpreet Gony, was their first stiff test and they cleared it thanks to big scores from Uthappa and Pandey. In the semi-finals Dravid’s flawless double-century shut out Uttar Pradesh. The final against Mumbai was one of the most gripping matches in the tournament’s history, both sides showing heart and skill on a juicy track in Mysore, before Karnataka went down by six runs on a tension-filled last day.Men to watchPandey proved he was not just a flashy Twenty20 player last season, making a tournament-high 882 runs, including four centuries. One of those was a memorable, counterattacking 144 against Mumbai as Karnataka nearly pulled off the stiffest chase ever in a Ranji final. With plenty of competition for places in the national side, he will need to keep scoring the runs to attract the selectors’ attention.

Bengal

Will the Bengal captaincy help Manoj Tiwary rediscover his hunger for runs?•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bengal finished sixth in their group last year with just a solitary win. The last season had started with much drama over the issue of Laxmi Ratan Shukla being retained as captain. Jagmohan Dalmiya had to intervene to bring about a consensus. Every player was handed a sheet containing contact numbers of the team-mates to improve “communication” among themselves. That was last year.This season has started more peacefully. They have a new captain in Manoj Tiwary and a new coach in WV Raman who reckons this is a revival season for Bengal after the reverses in the last few years; Bengal have started the season on a right note by doing well in the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. “My players did well in the Mushtaq Ali tournament but a four-day game is a different thing altogether,” Raman said. “So, adaptability will be the key.” It’s learnt that Raman has introduced yoga sessions among the players.What they did last seasonThey started with a seven-wicket victory over Maharasthra but the wins dried up after that. They bowled out Baroda for 307 but collapsed from 218 for 4 to 293 all out. Baroda amassed 458 in the second innings to shut Bengal out of the game. Their bowling fell away and they yielded big first-innings leads against Karnataka and Saurashtra in the next two games. The next match was a heartbreaker: Sourav Ganguly topscored with 66 as Bengal made 193 in their first innings and Ranadeb Bose bagged a five-for to bowl out Uttar Pradesh for 62. However, Bengal were blown away by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second innings for 104. And UP chased down the target of 236 with three wickets remaining. Bengal took the lead in their last game against Delhi, but it was too little, too late.Men to watchThree years ago, Tiwary was the chief fringe player for India before an injury pushed the likes of Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and S Badrinath ahead in the queue. He recovered from the setbacks, but hasn’t set domestic cricket on fire with his performances and has gone down in the pecking order. Can he find his hunger for runs this season? Wriddhiman Saha and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala will be the other names to look out for in the batting. The pace and spin combo of Ranadeb Bose (28 wickets) and Saurasish Lahiri shared 46 wickets between themselves in the last season. The likes of Ashok Dinda and Shukla, relieved from captaincy, will have to step up.

Himachal Pradesh

Vikramjeet Malik, who was Himachal Pradesh’s top wicket-taker last year, will lead their attack again•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Himachal Pradesh have worked their way up, winning the Plate League in the 2008-09 season to qualify for the elite stage the following year. But they squandered opportunities against the more formidable teams and deprived themselves of a place in the knockouts. They had held a position of advantage and had a realistic shot at a win against Hyderabad, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Orissa but, in the end, had to settle for a solitary win, three losses and the frustration of not completing the job.The captaincy has changed hands in the interim with batsman Paras Dogra, 25, who was Himachal’s second-highest run-getter last season, taking over from seamer Ashok Thakur.”We have a lot of expectations from Dogra,” Himachal coach Rajdeep Kalsi told ESPNcricinfo. “He is young and energetic, and the decision was taken to groom him better under Thakur, who has served us for a long time.”It was the batting that let Himachal down last season with its inconsistency. First-innings leads were laid to waste with lacklustre performances in the second innings while chasing targets and the hard work of the bowlers, the team’s main strength, was not backed up. The draw this year includes a different set of opposition for Himachal, with them taking on Haryana in the opener and matches lined up against Karnataka, Baroda as well as Uttar Pradesh.Their base in Dharamsala, Kalsi said, with conditions conducive to swing – each ofseamers Vikramjeet Malik, Thakur and Mohinderraj Sharma had impressive seasons last year – should hold them in good stead. “A couple of years ago we bowled out a Delhiteam including Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag for 75 runs. We’ve been relying onthese two-three bowlers and they’ve never let us down,” Kalsi said. If they managed to ruffle up some title contenders last season, they’ll expect to do better this time.What they did last season
Strong bowling performances were a constant for Himachal last season with their seamershanding them the initiative. Hyderabad were bowled out for 189, Mumbai for 162,Punjab and Gujarat for 186 and 87 respectively. But their batsmen failed them. Theycouldn’t scale down a target of 168 against Hyderabadand settled for a draw. They were beaten by Tamil Naduwhile chasing 247, were skittled out for 82 by Punjab in aneight-wicket defeat and lost to Mumbai by 85 runs. The disappointing returns with the batwere evident in the fact that none of the batsmen averaged above 40.Men to watch
Himachal have roped in two new players for this season, Gurvinder Singh and AbhineeshSharma, who has won a place based on his performances at the Under-22 level.Gurvinder is an offspinner and Sharma a left-handed batsman. Back in the mix aftertwo years is Manvinder Bisla, who represented Kings XI Punjab in the IPL with someaggressive innings at the top of the order. But the batting will depend, to asignificant extent, on Dogra and Vinit Indulkar, who top-scored for the state lastseason. The performance of the seamers, led by Malik and Thakur, could again prove decisive.

Saurashtra

Ravindra Jadeja will hope to perform well for Saurashtra to keep himself in the reckoning for the India team•AFP

Saurashtra surprised many by reaching the semi-finals in two of the last three seasons. Their 2007-08 campaign gave them the belief that they no longer need to fear the good teams and the next year’s efforts showed everybody else that Saurashtra had indeed turned a corner. As Shitanshu Kotak, their senior player said last year, “No one used to bother about Saurashtra in the past. Now they sit up and take notice, they think this team can beat us. It feels great.”The decision that changed things around was the nomination of the veteran Debu Mitra as the coach. It was the former India spinner Dilip Doshi who recommended Mitra’s name. “Mitra’s coaching manual is simple and always gives emphasis on the basics,” Niranjan Shah, the secretary of Saurashtra Cricket Association, said. “The boys have tremendous respect for him. Cheteshwar Pujara has already made it to the Indian team and Jaidev Unadkat is waiting for his chance.” Without the presence of Pujara, who is likely to be in the national squad, things won’t be easy this year.What they did last seasonIt wasn’t a good year as they finished near the bottom of their group, drawing three games and losing three. Yet it wasn’t as disastrous a season as it looks on paper. They came close to win in a few matches and fought hard in the rest but things didn’t go their way. Against Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra ended up on 155 for 5, chasing 277 for a win, in 63 overs on the final day in the opening game . They came close in the second game but couldn’t finish the job again, piling up 544 and forcing Maharashtra to follow on but prising out only five opposition wickets in the second innings. It was the same story in the next match as they forced Bengal to follow-on but couldn’t get a win. In the next round, Delhi’s medium-pacers Pawan Suyal and Parwinder Awana bowled out Saurashtra for 214 in the second innings to inflict a defeat. They lost to Baroda in a low-scoring thriller in the next round before Karnataka beat them in the final game of the season.Men to watch
The opener Chirag Pathak led with the bat last season, amassing 601 runs at 60.10. Pujara piled up 554 at 79.14. Pratik Mehta and Kotak were other contributors with the bat. In the absence of Pujara, the rest will have to play out of their skins if Saurashtra have to do well this season. Ravindra Jadeja will be keen to perform and try to remain in the reckoning for the national team. Seamer Sandeep Jobanputra did well last season and Rakesh Dhurv picked up 16 wickets with his left-arm spin. Both will be key this year for Saurashtra.

Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar have been recalled to the England squad for the Ashes tour, but Ajmal Shahzad misses out on the main 16-man party and will instead travel with the performance team. The positions of final pacemen and second spinner were the only ones up for grabs among a settled unit, with Tremlett’s height and Panesar’s previous Test experience being the deciding factors.It had been expected that Shahzad had done enough in his few appearances this season, particularly with his use of reverse swing, to make the final cut but the selectors have opted to send him with the second string, while Tim Bresnan goes in the main group to provide allrounder cover. However, Shahzad will fly out with the full party on October 29 for the warm-up period before moving to the performance side ahead of the Brisbane Test. The rest of the squad provoked very little debate with Steve Davies being rewarded for his successful one-day form with the back-up keeper role.However, the two players to gain most from the announcement are Tremlett and Panesar after periods in the international wilderness. Tremlett last appeared in 2008 – but hasn’t played a Test since his successful debut series against India in 2007 – while Panesar has been ignored since his famous rearguard with the bat alongside James Anderson against Australia, at Cardiff, last year.Tremlett enjoyed a resurgent season with Surrey having joined from Hampshire, taking 48 Championship scalps at 20.18. Six weeks ago he was in prime form and although he tailed off towards the end of the summer he earned strong reviews. Tremlett has always had the attributes to be a Test-match fast bowler, but has had to battle against a perception that his character is suspect under pressure. Although he will start outside the first XI, any injuries to the pace attack will give him the chance to prove his detractors wrong.Panesar, meanwhile, moved from Northamptonshire to Sussex for the 2010 season in an attempt to revive his England career and he enjoyed a successful summer with 52 Championshop wickets at 25.53. The other contenders as back-up for Graeme Swann were James Tredwell, the Kent offspinner who made his Test debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka earlier this year, and Adil Rashid who had an impressive all-round season with Yorkshire which brought 732 runs at 45.75 alongside 57 wickets at 31.29.But, in one of the most surprising selections, Rashid has not only missed the main squad but also the performance side that will be based in Brisbane and Perth alongside the Ashes party. Tredwell, and the 19-year-old Hampshire left-arm spinner Danny Briggs, are the two slow bowlers acting as support to Swann and Panesar.”We believe we’ve selected an outstanding Test squad for what will be a fiercely contested Ashes series in Australia,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said. “In order to retain the Ashes we will need to play to a very high level and we believe we’ve selected a squad to do just that.”Clearly there are always difficult decisions to make when selecting an England squad and this Ashes squad was no different. We feel that Chris Tremlett’s inclusion will add a real threat of pace and bounce to our bowling attack given the conditions in Australia. Chris will be vying for a place in the final team amongst a confident attack including James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn.”We feel that following an excellent season with Sussex Monty Panesar deserves his opportunity to assume the role as England’s second spinner behind Graeme Swann. Monty has gone away and worked on his bowling since his last England appearance and he continues to be an attacking threat with the ball in his hand.”The performance squad includes those who have been around England squads in recent times – Tredwell, Michael Carberry, and Liam Plunkett – along with some of the strongest performers from the domestic season including Jimmy Adams, the Hampshire opener, James Taylor from Leicestershire, Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth and Warwickshire’s allrounder Chris Woakes. There is also a place for Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder, who was born in New Zealand but Ravi Bopara doesn’t make it and will instead play first-class cricket in South Africa.The performance side will be based in Brisbane from November 13 where it will play a four-day match against a Queensland XI (November 25-28) before relocating to Perth on November 29 to play a Western Australia XI (December 7-10) and they will remain in Perth for the lead up to the third Ashes Test before returning to the UK on December 16.David Parsons, the ECB performance director, said: “The England Performance Programme provides an excellent opportunity for those players identified as having considerable talent to train together in an England environment throughout the winter and further develop as cricketers.”The time spent at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough and Australia allows our national lead coaches to work intensively with the players and assess their readiness to graduate to the full England side when the opportunity arises. It has been very pleasing to see the likes of Jonathan Trott, Eoin Morgan, Steven Finn and Steve Davies who have all spent time on the programme in recent years, go on to play important roles for England.”Ashes squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Steve Davies, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett, Monty PanesarPerformance squad Jimmy Adams, Jonny Bairstow, Danny Briggs, Michael Carberry, Maurice Chambers, Jade Dernbach, Andrew Gale, James Hildreth, Craig Kieswetter, Adam Lyth, Liam Plunkett, Ajmal Shahzad, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris WoakesCentral contracts Andrew Strauss, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Jonathan TrottIncremental contracts Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy

ScorecardAdam Voges was one of a number of Nottinghamshire batsmen to make a start but not covert into a major score•PA Photos

Title-chasing Nottinghamshire were facing the prospect of conceding a first-innings deficit in their clash with reigning County Championship Division One winners Durham following a closely-fought second day.Nottinghamshire started the day well as they removed the hosts’ final four wickets for the addition of 10 runs to bowl Durham out for 372. In reply half-centuries from by skipper Chris Read and Ali Brown, plus 48 from Australian Adam Voges, helped Nottinghamshire to 257 for 6 by the close.That meant they took three points from the day’s play – one for bowling and two for batting – as they continue to edge cautiously towards the title. Nottinghamshire now boast a lead of 21 points over second-placed Somerset, but will still be hoping to avoid defeat at Chester-le-Street with two tough matches to finish the campaign against Yorkshire and Lancashire.With that in mind the visitors will be hoping their tail can add some valuable runs on day three with their deficit still 115 runs with four wickets in hand. Durham’s hopes of running through the tail could rest on whether Mark Davies will return to the attack after he failed to bowl in the evening session.In his fifth championship appearance either side of a three-month break following a second ankle operation, Davies took the remarkable figures of 2 for 10 from 15 overs. Earlier, Durham lost their remaining four wickets for 10 runs, with Scott Borthwick last out for a career-best 68 when he pulled a catch to deep mid-wicket to give Andre Adams his fifth wicket.Borthwick clipped the first ball of the day, from Ryan Sidebottom, behind square leg for four to earn Durham’s fourth batting point. For the maximum of five they still had 13 overs to score the extra 50 runs, but Phil Mustard looked in too much of a hurry when he drove at Sidebottom and edged to Read after adding three singles to his overnight 117.Liam Plunkett edged the next ball to the wicketkeeper and Read held his third catch in two overs when Mitch Claydon edged a drive at Adams.Nottinghamshire’s struggles to find a settled opening pair saw them promote Samit Patel, but after turning Claydon to fine leg for four he shaped to play through midwicket and got a leading edge to mid-off in the first over.In the continued absence of Steve Harmison, Davies shared the new ball and struck in his sixth over. He had already beaten the bat several times when Alex Hales pushed forward and edged to wicketkeeper Mustard. Hales and Mark Wagh put on 48 in 21 overs before Plunkett settled down after a wayward start and skidded one through to bowl Wagh for 30.At 71 for 3 Nottinghamshire were looking slightly rocky, but Brown and Voges put on 75 before Davies pinned the Australian lbw. Brown fell for 52 when he drove leg-spinner Borthwick to mid-off and two overs from the close Read departed for 56 when he tried to pull Plunkett and gloved a leg-side catch to Mustard.Sidebottom went in as nightwatchman and will be replaced at the crease by Darren Pattinson as the left-armer had to depart to join up with the England Twenty20 squad.

Match facts

Sunday, September 12
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Jonathan Foo was Guyana’s hero in several matches of the Caribbean T20•Anthony Harris/West Indies Cricket Board

Big Picture

For the third day in a row, an IPL team with a wagonload of stars will take on low-profile opponents. Royal Challengers Bangalore have plenty of experience in their ranks, a bevy of big-hitters, and enough South African flavour to start as favourites against Guyana.Bangalore will have fond memories of South Africa, having finished runners-up in the IPL last year. It was midway through that tournament that they installed Anil Kumble at the helm, after fumbling under Rahul Dravid in the first season and then Kevin Pietersen for the initial part of the 2009 season. With South African Ray Jennings as coach, and senior player Jacques Kallis also hailing from the country, Kumble can tap into a wealth of local knowledge.On the other hand, not only do Guyana have few players with substantial international experience, most of the squad haven’t played in South African conditions as well. However, they can take inspiration from their Caribbean rivals, Trinidad & Tobago, who also hadn’t played much in the subcontinent, but won hearts with their fearless cricket as they stormed to the finals of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20.Guyana captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, smarting from losing out on a national contract, has warned that the youngsters are capable of springing surprises and said that they want to go one better than T&T did last season.

Watch out for…

Ross Taylor warmed up for the tournament by smoking 66 off 29 against a strong Victoria side earlier this week. Bangalore will look to him to continue that form, after forking out $200,000 to Central Districts to secure his services for the next couple of weeks.The pocket-sized Jonathan Foo, little known before the Caribbean T20, emerged as a player to watch after quickfire cameos sealed victory for Guyana several times in that tournament. The best of those cameos was a 17-ball 42 against Barbados in the final.

Key contests

Dale Steyn v Guyana openers: Travis Dowlin and Sewnarine Chattergoon are two of Guyana’s more experienced batsmen, and the onus will be on them to blunt the threat of Steyn in his home conditions.Bishoo v Bangalore middle order: Devendra Bishoo scooped 11 wickets and the Man-of-the-Series award in the Caribbean T20 with his legspinners. If he can replicate that form against a line-up that includes renowned six-hitters such as Taylor, Cameron White and Robin Uthappa, Guyana’s prospects will brighten considerably.

Stats and trivia

• In four Twenty20 matches so far in his career, Foo has a strike-rate of 210.20 and has been dismissed only once.
• Cameron White is two big hits short of becoming the seventh man to reach the landmark of 100 career sixes. The leader is his team-mate, Taylor, with 147 sixes

Quotes

“He has a great future ahead of him. I think he could be another Kieron Pollard”
Ramnaresh Sarwan predicts big things for Jonathan Foo
“Last five days have been good. Boys are doing well. Practice matches we’ve had, have been good. Looking forward to the match tonight.”

ScorecardRilee Rossouw hit a breezy century as South Africa A batted themselves into a strong position on the first day of the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A at Pallekele.Rossouw hit 13 fours and three sixes in his 131 off 154 deliveries and was involved in two century stands which formed the bulk of the South African score of 339 for 5. Coming in at the fall of opener Stephen Cook, Rossouw added 116 runs for the second wicket with Dean Elgar, who made 74 off 135 balls.Sri Lanka struck back with two wickets in two overs, as offspinner Janaka Gunaratne had Elgar caught by Sachithra Senanayake and Stiaan van Zyl was caught behind without scoring off legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna. However, Rossouw combined with Jonathan Vandiar for another century partnership as the duo added 120 runs for the fourth wicket. Rossouw was finally caught behind by Kaushal Silva off Gunaratne with the score on 287.South Africa seemed to be heading towards stumps without any further damage, but Vandiar was trapped leg before by Senanayake in the penultimate over of the day, having made 68 off 144 deliveries. However, with Heino Kuhn – who has ten first-class hundreds – unbeaten on 33 at stumps, South Africa will be confident of easing past 400 on the second day.

Virender Sehwag, as economical with words as with his technique, is not looking for any excuses after his side lost 15 wickets in 124.3 overs and is still 63 runs behind Sri Lanka’s first-innings total, with a full day’s play to go. He said they were aware that their shot selection wasn’t good, that they were now hoping for rain to go with the best efforts of VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni.”Fantastic that we are getting a result even after losing one day’s play,” Sehwag said. “But it is bad for the Indian side. We are on the losing side unless VVS Laxman can play [well] tomorrow, and we are hopeful that after lunch or before tea, rain will come and the match gets washed out as a draw.”Asked about his shot to get out in the first innings, an attempted cut to a delivery that would have otherwise been called wide, with three fielders deep in the off side, Sehwag said: “That’s my scoring shot. If you look at the 7000 runs that I have scored, more than 3000 runs have come through the cut shot. In coming matches too, I will play the same shot. Sometimes you get out, sometimes you score runs. Almost every time, I score runs with the cut shot.”But aren’t India in the position because several batsmen played ill-advised shots? “Everybody is aware of that, but you can’t control certain things,” Sehwag said. “Sometimes you play that shot and you get away with that, sometimes you get out. That’s Test cricket where everybody has played enough matches. They are experienced. It happens in cricket.”Sehwag conceded the pitch hadn’t deteriorated enough to justify the scores and that it was “still a good track to bat on” which made him confident that India could still save the Test. “If you look at the last Test match that we played against South Africa, MS and VVS scored hundred-plus and remained not out and batted really well,” he said. “So they can do that. Laxman and Dravid did that against Australia in 2001, so we have the hope. Still we have one more pair of batsmen, they will go tomorrow and try and their best.”

Ball of the day
Old Trafford has a decent history of spinners producing some special deliveries. Shane Warne tops the list in 1993, but Ashley Giles’ ball to Damien Martyn in 2005 wasn’t too shabby while Monty Panesar has managed a few good ones as well. However, Shakib Al Hasan’s delivery to remove Ian Bell can stand proud among the best as he turned one from leg stump to take the top of off against a batsman well set on 128. For a moment it was unclear what had happened because Shakib, in complete contrast to when he removed Kevin Pietersen on the first day, barely acknowledged the dismissal after being frustrated by his team’s bowling during the morning.Sequence of the day
Tamim Iqbal was at it again. Not content with his memorable display at Lord’s he again put England’s attack to the sword with another hundred of the highest quality. He probably wishes he could play England all the time because his current sequence stands at six scores over fifty in seven innings. When he passed fifty he became the first Bangladesh batsman to make five half-centuries in consecutive innings. But he wasn’t finished there and when he cut Graeme Swann through point to reach three figures he became the first to hit back-to-back Test hundreds as well. Only two of his countrymen have managed two hundreds in their entire careers.Stand of the day
Century opening stands have been like London buses for Bangladesh.Wait ages for one, then two come along at once. They have only had four in their Test history, but the last couple have been back-to-back (unsurprisingly for the first time) after Tamim and Imrul Kayes followed their 185 at Lord’s with 126 at Old Trafford. They are a highly contrasting pair – but the best opening combinations so often are – with Kayes happy to follow in Tamim’s slipstream.Plan of the day
England, though, are convinced that Kayes doesn’t play the short ball well. The idea was set in their mind when he was bounced out on a shirtfront by Stuart Broad at Chittagong and they continue to bang the ball in. And even though Kayes has been tough to shift, he has fallen to the short-ball plan in all three innings of this series. At Lord’s he fended to slip and short leg and here, against Steven Finn, he picked out long leg with precision as he top-edged a hook. It was again impressive execution from Finn, in the first over of his second spell, and a vital breakthrough for England who were really struggling.Relief of the day
It was a rare wicketless Test for Graeme Swann at Lord’s, but having seen Shakib and Abdur Razzak turn the ball square expectation was squarely on his shoulders this time around. However, his barren spell went on a little longer still as Tamim and Kayes played him well during their opening stand and it was delight mixed with relief when he got one to take Junaid Siddique’s edge through to Matt Prior. Swann was then back in the groove and produced a lovely ball to remove Jahurul Islam. By the close he had another five-wicket haul.Spell of the day
A 12-ball 5 and an opening spell of six overs for 35 meant a quiet start to Ajmal Shahzad’s Test career, but that didn’t last. Recalled late in the day with the ball reverse-swinging he showed what has caught the eye of Andy Flower as he ripped out three wickets in 16 balls as Bangladesh crumbled. His first Test wicket didn’t come from his best ball, as Mohammad Ashraful cut to backward point, but the two deliveries to castle Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam were high-quality late swingers that would have dismissed many batsmen.

ScorecardA thrilling last-wicket partnership between Surrey’s Andre Nel and Jade Dernbach helped drag their side back into their County Championship Division Two contest against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. The pair smashed 118 runs off 147 balls to help the visitors from 268 for 9 to 386 all out, with both making their highest scores in all forms of the game.Former South African paceman Nel hammered 96 off 125 balls, while Dernbach’s knock of 56 not out from 67 balls included two huge sixes. Nel then took two wickets and Dernbach one as Northants moved to 154 for 4 at the close of day three, with wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien top-scoring with 44 and all three results still possible.Surrey began the day on 210 for 7, 187 runs behind Northants’ total of 397, with Matthew Spriegel resuming on 25 and Nel yet to score. Former Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas broke through in the 14th over of the day when Spriegel’s (43) attempted pull was edged to O’Brien.Tim Linley, who took his maiden first-class five-wicket haul on day two, faced 10 balls without scoring before edging Lee Daggett to O’Brien, who took his fourth catch of the innings.But Nel smashed an explosive half-century, his first for Surrey, off 63 balls before tailender Dernbach surpassed his previous best first-class score of 19, made against Northants last year. Nel then went past his highest total, 56 for South Africa versus Bangladesh A at Worcester in 2008, as the last pair piled on the runs to guide their side to 352 for 9 at lunch.Dernbach reached his first ever half-century off just 56 balls before Nel was trapped lbw just four runs short of an improbable century by former international team-mate Nicky Boje.With their lead cut to 11 runs, Northants were haunted by Nel again in the ninth over of their second innings when his delivery brushed Stephen Peters’ (9) pad before hitting his leg stump. The hosts then lost O’Brien, who made 44 off 55 balls before edging Dernbach to Surrey wicketkeeper Steven Davies with the last ball before tea.Mal Loye, who smashed 164 in his first innings, made it to just 20 this time before being caught leg before by Chris Schofield in the first full over after the interval.Rob White made a patient 29 as part of a 50-run partnership with Boje before throwing his wicket away by needlessly launching Nel straight to Linley at fine leg. Northants captain Andrew Hall and ex-skipper Boje then guided the hosts to the close, which came five overs early because of bad light.

Assuming England don’t take everyone by surprise on Friday morning and change the balance of their side, they have just one selection poser ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh. It’s a contest between Ajmal Shahzad, the uncapped Yorkshire paceman, or Ryan Sidebottom to replace the injured Tim Bresnan, and the final decision will provide an insight into the selectors’ long-term planning.Throughout this season England are trying to increase the pool of players from which they can choose for any particular Test. It’s part of the reason behind the rotation system which has been implemented, with Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss keen to have a strong squad rather just a strong first XI. With a view to that it’s important they learn about new players, which would suggest these next five days are an ideal chance to find out about Shahzad.He has been part of the England squad since the Twenty20s against Pakistan in Dubai – where he marked his debut with two wickets in his first over before being dismantled by Abdul Razzaq at the end of the run chase – and he later made his ODI debut in Chittagong. However, he has since been overtaken on the Test scene by Steven Finn who leapfrogged him into the starting line-up for the first Test in Chittagong, only a matter of days after stepping off the plane from London.While playing Sidebottom may be a safer option – and his left-arm angle will also be tempting – the selectors won’t learn anything they don’t already know, and this may be the last chance in the near future to test Shahzad’s credentials, with Stuart Broad expected to return to face Pakistan later in the summer. Shahzad is also a like-for-like replacement for Bresnan with a first-class batting average of 32, and so would be expected to contribute usefully down the order.”With Ryan we know what we will get, he’s a very experienced campaigner, very good in English conditions, very good against left-handers and brings that different angle being a left-armer,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “Ajmal we don’t know as much about at this stage but are very excited about what we’ve seen which is why he’s been in the squad. He bowls with good pace, keeps running and can swing the ball both ways. It’s a choice between youth and experience and we have to decide what is the best way of winning this Test.”Bresnan received encouraging news after his injury was downgraded to a “stress reaction” with “no established fracture” following further scans, but his performance at Lord’s suggested he would have struggled either way to remain part of a three-man pace attack. There were occasions when England’s four-pronged unit looked light on firepower, especially with Graeme Swann having little influence on the match. Strauss is expecting more from the Old Trafford pitch, both for the quicks and the spinners, but a surface that aids the bowlers won’t do much to clear up the question of whether England need an extra option.”The balance-of-the-side issue is something we look at on a case-by-case basis but this wicket should have a bit more in it for the bowlers,” said Strauss. “Generally there’s a bit more pace and bounce and the spinner usually comes into the game a bit more so we are probably leaning towards four bowlers.”Two areas we wanted to improve were getting big hundreds, which to some extent we did with Jonathan Trott getting a double, and the second was finding ways of taking wickets when the ball isn’t doing much. I don’t think we did that as well as we could during the Test, certainly on day two and to a certain extent on day four when the sun was out and the ball wasn’t swinging. We weren’t able to apply as much pressure as we’d like and it’s an area we want to touch up on.”The pitches will be flat in Australia and the Ashes hype was notched up a few levels in Sydney on Wednesday when a selection of Australia players, including Ricky Ponting, launched the title sponsorship for the series. Strauss again admitted that the contest was never far from his mind even at the start of the English season, but that it was important not to lose focus on the present.”You have to look at a bit of both but primarily this game,” he said.”As I said at the start of the summer it’s about winning and winning consistently then things will become clear as the summer goes on as to the personnel we need. I’d like to say we’ve half an eye on it, but the more immediate concern is this game.”

ScorecardMiddlesex are on course for their first win of the County Championship season after their bowlers put them in a strong position against Sussex at Hove. Second Division leaders Sussex conceded a first innings deficit of 79 runs against a Middlesex team who have lost all four of their previous games this season.They then lost three wickets clearing those arrears and finished the second day on 113 for 4, a lead of 34, with Matt Prior, who scored an undefeated 123 in the first innings, again holding the fort on 48 not out.Openers Chris Nash and Michael Thornely launched Sussex’s second innings with a flurry of attacking shots and had 33 on the board in the fifth over when Thornely became the first of two wickets in successive overs for Tim Murtagh, adjudged leg before as he tried to work the ball backward of square.Murtagh struck again when the out-of-form Joe Gatting pushed forward to an away-swinger and was caught at slip for a duck. Murray Goodwin also fell without scoring, bowled by Iain O’Brien as he failed to deal with some late in-swing.Prior and Nash led a recovery of sorts with a stand of 41 but Nash was leg-before to Pedro Collins for 42, leaving Sussex with work to do if they are to improve their lead at the top of the table.Earlier, former West Indies fast bowler Corey Collymore had taken 5 for 67- his best figures for Sussex in his third season with the county – as Middlesex were dismissed for 296 in their first innings.The bottom of the table visitors were on course to build a substantial leadwhen Neil Dexter and John Simpson put on 108 in 35 overs for the fourth wicket, after Owais Shah had lost his off stump when he shouldered arms to Collymore in the eighth over of the day.Dexter looked in superb touch on a pitch which had flattened out after 13 wickets had fallen on the first day. He struck 15 boundaries, most of them through mid off and extra cover, and Middlesex were within 21 runs of taking the lead when Robin Martin-Jenkins dragged Sussex back into the game with two wickets in three overs.Dexter was betrayed by a lack of footwork as he fell leg before for 80 andSimpson was well taken by wicketkeeper Prior for 45. While the seamers operated in rotation from one end Monty Panesar bowled with outstanding control until Gareth Berg went on the attack and spoiled his figures by hitting 22 off one over, including three sixes.Panesar, who had earlier trapped Tom Smith lbw, had his revenge in the next over when Berg missed a sweep, having made 60 off 61 balls with six fours and those three sixes. Collymore returned to mop up the tail by picking up O’Brien and fellow Bajan Pedro Collins in successive overs.