Report

Bangladesh complete a satisfying draw

Bangladesh enjoyed another successful day of acclimatisation at Fenner's

Cricinfo staff
12-May-2005
British Universities 238 (Knappett 73, Shadahat 4-33) drew with Bangladeshis 381 (Omar 167, Ashraful 102) and 246 for 4 dec (Bashar 75)
Scorecard


Habibul Bashar: valuable time in the middle on the final day at Fenner's © Getty Images
Bangladesh enjoyed a third consecutive day of ideal acclimatization at Fenner's. First, their 18-year-old seamer, Shahadat Hossain, bowled himself into contention for the first Test at Lord's with figures of 4 for 33, and then, with a lead of 143, all five of Bangladesh's top-order enjoyed valuable time in the middle, as the match petered out to a draw.
After resuming on their overnight 190 for 5, Luke Parker and Josh Knappett extended their sixth-wicket stand to 134, before Parker was caught behind for 65 off Mashrafe Mortaza. That signalled the end of British Universities' resistance, as Shadahat - the quickest of Bangladesh's bowlers - got stuck into the tail. The final five wickets tumbled for 22, with Shahadat removing both Amit Suman and Monty Panesar for ducks.
With more than two sessions of the day still remaining, the Bangladeshis could have contemplated a shot at a morale-boosting victory, but that was never in their gameplan. Javed Omar, fresh from a career-best 167 in the first innings, put his head down for a solid 39 and Nafees Iqbal chipped in with 46 - a breezier innings from a flashier player, but a mature performance nonetheless.
Shahriar Nafees, the young left-handed opener who is seen as an outside bet for the Tests, then made an important half-century to atone for his first-innings duck, and shared in an 80-run stand with his captain, Habibul Bashar, whose 75 from 86 balls was the most authoritative innings of the day.
Shahriar was run out shortly after completing his fifty, but before the close, there was just time for Rajin Saleh to familiarise himself with the conditions, as he finished unbeaten on 30. Bangladesh now travel down to Hove for the second of their three three-day warm-ups, with their spirits high and runs and wickets in the bank.