Jonathan Trott hits a century as England walk all over Bangladesh
A sparkling unbeaten century from Jonathan Trott put England well on the way to victory by tea on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s.
In a dominant display, the hosts – who had been put into bat by visiting captain Shakib Al Hasan – reached 231/3 by the end of the second session with Ian Bell joining Trott the middle, after a brief Kevin Pietersen cameo was ended by a poor shot from Al Hasan’s flighted delivery.
Earlier Trott, who reached tea at 107 not out, and Andrew Strauss profited from some weak Bangladeshi bowling by putting on 181 for the second wicket, before Strauss played a Mahmudullah delivery onto his stumps on 83.
The duo had dominated the visitors, bringing up their century partnership from just 142 balls, and their 150 partnership from 201 deliveries amid some poor fielding from the visitors.
Trott’s ton was only his second for England, and his first since the second innings 119 that helped swing last August’s deciding Ashes Test match England’s way. That innings at the Oval was largely based on grit and defiance, whereas here the Warwickshire right-hander was able to showcase his full array of shots.
As was the England captain Strauss who, perhaps benefitting from the prolonged rest that saw him miss both the recent tour of Bangladesh and the Twenty20 World Cup, looked in fine form before his unfortunate dismissal to Mahmudullah, and was disappointed at his failure to bring up a 19th Test match century.
Pietersen then came, briefly entertained, and went for 18, joining Alistair Cook as the two batsmen to have missed out so far.
The opener, who captained England on that Bangladesh visit in March, fell for just seven after being controversially trapped in front of his stumps by Shahadat Hossain in just the fifth over of the day.
Replays showed that the delivery was slightly too high, and Cook can feel aggrieved at the lack of the availability of the Umpire Decision Review System in this Test, which was ditched due to a dispute between the ICC and host broadcaster Sky over who would foot the bill.
With the exciting debutant Eoin Morgan due in next, England have laid the foundations for a good first innings score, and despite Bangladesh being buoyed by the removal of Strauss and Pietersen in the final hour of the session, the hosts look set for a commanding advantage.
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