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Kat call works a treat
Simon Katich’s wrist spin is usually described as underused and he has a happy knack of breaking partnerships. A three-hour stand between Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik was causing Ricky Ponting some grief, so he threw the ball to Katich midway through the second session. Katich struck with his ninth ball when he had Butt caught at slip and he followed with another wicket in his third over. Another came in his sixth, allowing him to finish with 3 for 34, his second-best bowling in a Test innings.Teasers and the fiery Kat
Katich can sometimes be a little volatile but he took with good humour the ribbing from within the squad about his bowling before he came on. “I ran off the field just before I bowled, to rip that Gatorade tracker thing off my chest,” Katich said. “I joked to the coaches saying how am I going to get a wicket here? All of them said just the regulation half-tracker or full toss which normally comes out, but thankfully I got it with a genuine legspinner that actually spun a bit.” A shoulder problem limited Katich’s ability to bowl earlier in the summer but after having injections to deal with the trouble in Melbourne, he said all the pain he felt when bowling had now been eliminated.How much is a hundred worth?
Butt deserves to be commended for his third Test hundred, especially after ne needed to repay the team for running out Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal on the second afternoon. However, a cynic might suggest that since he caused three dismissals (including his own) and scored 102 runs, his average for the innings was a reasonable 34.66.First-over specialist
Mohammad Aamer is in his eighth Test and is already developing an extremely useful habit: the ability to get a wicket in his first over. When Aamer’s second delivery was spooned in the air to mid-off by Shane Watson, it was the fifth time that he had broken through in his first over. If only his catching was as reliable.The Brady hunch
Australia’s 12th man Clint McKay has headed off for Victorian duties so the team called in a local Tasmanian player, Brady Jones, to be their spare fielder. The strange thing is Jones is a wicketkeeper, the state’s backup gloveman for Tim Paine. But with the Tasmanian squad playing on the mainland, there were few options remaining. As it turns out, Jones has not always worn the gloves at club level and his out-fielding was perfectly fine.

Peter Siddle has been ruled out of Australia’s tour of New Zealand in March with a stress fracture of the back. The injury is a major blow to Australia, who are already missing several fast men including Ben Hilfenhaus (knee), Brett Lee (elbow) and Stuart Clark (back) from the Test ranks.Siddle battled back soreness during the one-day series against Pakistan and missed the match in Adelaide, but returned a few days later to play in Perth. However, the problem was revealed after the final ODI and he will be out of action for the rest of the Australian summer.”Peter experienced back pain during the Commonwealth Bank Series,” Australia’s physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. “The source of the pain was investigated after the fifth ODI and unfortunately scans revealed that he has a lower back stress fracture. The nature of this injury means that Peter will require a long rehabilitation period and as such he’ll be unavailable for the remainder of the domestic summer and the tour of New Zealand.”There is a possibility Hilfenhaus will also miss the New Zealand tour, which would create a major test of Australia’s fast-bowling depth with Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger the only two frontline Test fast men currently fit. Clint McKay and Ryan Harris, who have starred in the one-day series against Pakistan, would be the likely contenders to join Bollinger and Johnson in the attack for the two-Test tour of New Zealand in late March.Brett Geeves, who was a cover player for Siddle during the Perth Test, was also on Wednesday ruled out for the season with a stress fracture of the back. Siddle’s ongoing injury problems are a concern for Australia – he has battled foot injuries over the past year and had several shoulder reconstructions before making his Australia debut.”Lots of fast bowlers seem to get them [back stress fractures] at certain stages throughout their career, there’s probably not many that don’t,” Siddle’s Victoria and Australia team-mate Cameron White said. “They’ve been getting them for years.”It’s not a career-threatening injury or anything like that. Brett Lee has had stress fractures numerous times, I think, and other bowlers have come back from them really strongly. Pete is one of those guys who does everything right and I’m sure he’ll get right and be back in no time.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBryce McGain started New South Wales’ problems with 3 for 37 from 10 overs•Getty Images

Matthew Wade and Andrew McDonald sealed a five-wicket win that took Victoria to second on the one-day table. On a difficult day for batting, the Bushrangers used their local knowledge to reach their rain-reduced target of 213 with 10 balls remaining.Wade top scored with 50 off 68 balls, leaving with two runs to get, while McDonald was unbeaten on 42 as they recovered from Nathan Bracken’s double-strike that left them at 4 for 110. Both sides have a game remaining in the group stages but Victoria are now in a strong position to make the final as they hope to add the FR Cup to their Twenty20 win.The Bushrangers’ initial target of 225 was cut after a rain break and when the players returned David Hussey motored ahead. Hussey took charge with 45 off 40 balls, but Bracken enticed him to hit to deep cover and the next ball Aaron Finch went for 44 to a poor pull shot. New South Wales were unable to follow up with more pressure, but it was really their batting that let them down.Phil Jaques overcame an early hit to the helmet to produce the most fluent innings for the Blues and when he left for 60 off 65 the rest struggled to match his tempo. Jaques had extra responsibilities as Phillip Hughes was unable to score at a run every two balls throughout his 44, but the Blues lost 4 for 34 after Jaques was caught at long-on.The wicket was the first for the impressive Bryce McGain, who worked well in tandem with Brad Hodge as the pitch slowed when the ball softened. McGain had 3 for 37 off 10 overs, picking up the No.3 Steven Smith and Hughes, who was brilliantly taken by a diving Hussey at mid-on. Hodge returned 1 for 31 off nine with his gentle offspin, including the important bowled of Simon Katich on 2.Moises Henriques and David Warner both went skying attempted big shots and Dominic Thornely’s 32 was the third-best contribution. Dirk Nannes, who had rattled Jaques’ helmet, also made life difficult for the tail as he collected 3 for 40.

Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant, has come down heavily on the ground authorities at the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for over-ruling the recommendation of Daljit Singh last year, which led to the abandonment of the final match of the India-Sri Lanka ODI series at the Feroz Shah Kotla on December 27. As a consequence, Daljit , chairman of the BCCI pitch and grounds committee, and his panel, were sacked the same day by the BCCI, which held him responsible.But Atkinson, who visited various Indian venues hosting next year’s World Cup earlier this month, inspected the Kotla pitch on February 14 and 15. Though he was happy with the remedial work in progress that has started under the supervision of Venkat Sundaram, former head of the BCCI curators’ panel, Atkinson stated in the report to the BCCI, a copy of which was available to Cricinfo, that all the controversy could have been easily avoided if the DDCA ground officials had heard Daljit’s suggestions.”As a consequence of the state of affairs that occurred with the pitch throughout last year, the decision to use of Perennial Rye grass was the only option left at a very late stage in an attempt to obtain some grass cover for the ODI on the 27th December and was recommended by Mr. Daljit Singh (Chairman BCCI Pitches Committee) quite correctly as an emergency measure,” Atkinson wrote.”Unfortunately the then local authority of DDCA did not agree with that course of action and went ahead and planted some local Cynodon grass, creating damage to the surface levels in doing so,” he addedIn the eight-page report, addressed to Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI’s chief administrative officer, Atkinson explained the disastrous consequences. “As predicted this grass did not grow then, and now the remains of it which is decomposing below the surface of the pitch will need to be removed mechanically so that the organic content will not further dilute the clay content of the soil and reduce the ability of that soil to produce fast hard pitches in the future.”According to Atkinson the surface level, too, was damaged as a result of using a heavy roller, thereby “creating low and high areas (Ridges)”. This was amply evident during the Sri Lanka ODI where Alan Hurst, the match referee, in his report submitted to the ICC few days after the game, said he was forced to stop the match after 23.1 overs because he deemed the Kotla pitch “dangerous” and “unfit”.Consequently the ICC penalised the Indian board and suspended the venue from hosting any international matches until the end of 2010. Though the BCCI appealed against the ICC decision, which was arrived at by the pair Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager of cricket, and Ranjan Madugalle, the chief match referee, Michael Beloff QC rejected their plea, insisting the penalty was in order.Fans were not happy when the match was called off and Andy Atkinson said the situation could have been avoided•AFP

Last April, after the second edition of the IPL had moved to South Africa, DDCA decided to re-lay the whole ground and Daljit was appointed as a consultant. But just months after the main pitch block was re-laid, DDCA agreed to host the Champions League Twenty20 games, an erroneous decision according to Atkinson.”The new grasses planted then were not given adequate time to grow in and establish a resilient deep root structure,” he wrote, “and when rolling began to prepare the pitches for the IPL Champions League the grass quite unsurprisingly died off as it was too delicate at that time to survive the stresses that were put on it by the act of rolling.”But he is against the re-laying the entire pitch square. “I can find no appropriate reason to excavate and reconstruct the pitch block at this time,” Atkinson said. “The basic construction of the pitch block as supervised by Daljit Singh is sound in my opinion and the reasons for the problems encountered were basically self inflicted by basic and terminal mistakes made by playing on the pitch far too early after its reconstruction in 2009.”With just twelve months to go until the World Cup the process is at a critical stage to get the Kotla back in shape. But Atkinson is not panicking yet as long as his suggestions are followed. “The problems to be overcome for CWC 2011 are fundamental issues of additional correction of the surface levels and ensuring the re‐establishment of the correct grass species by replanting the entire pitch block with the most suitable grasses for its long term benefit.”If the various authorities, and importantly the DDCA, adhere to his guidelines, Atkinson said Delhi would have no problems in hosting their four World Cup games. But there are some strict timelines that need to be adhered to. As soon as the last IPL game ends on April 17, Atkinson has said there will be no play at the ground, which would then undergo complete corrective work for 20 weeks between April 17 and August 31. This would be followed by hosting trial matches to test the pitches between September 1 and November 30. For the next 16 weeks, between December and February 17, 2011 the ground would be completely closed for maintenance and preparations of the pitches and the venue.Atkinson also stated that he would be visiting Delhi frequently, starting on March 15, two days ahead of the first IPL game, to inspect the developments.

Doug Bollinger’s stunner – Not unusual for an Australian•Indian Premier League

Klutzes United
There were bloopers on the field from Matthew Hayden, S Badrinath and S Anirudha and one off the field. Hayden jogged across at cover point to intercept a cut by Naman Ojha but failed to read the spin and let it sail through his legs. Sometime later, he got in perfect position to catch a skier off the same batsman but fluffed it. Thankfully for him, the match was already in the bag.Ojha had led a charmed life through his unbeaten 94. Even before the Hayden misfield, a slog-sweep found Badrinath at deep midwicket, only for the fielder to spill the catch on the dive. The other beneficiary of the night was Shane Watson, who skied one to midwicket and was let off on 31 by Anirudha, who never really got under it. All mishaps were witnessed and pilloried by thousands, but only a fraction of those witnessed one moment in the stands.The refurbished stands on the eastern end give the ground a sophisticated look. The scaffolding is very similar to that of the stands at Lord’s and the Adelaide Oval. Another new addition to these stands is the bucket seats, which aren’t common in many Indian grounds. When standing up to applaud Hayden passing 1000 IPL runs, this writer forgot that the seat folds when unoccupied. Next thing he knew, he was on the floor looking up at bemused onlookers. This was one standing ovation which turned into a stumbling side-show.“Bollinger, Bollinger”
It was Doug Bollinger’s postcard moment. On an evening when everything he touched seemed to turn to gold, he pulled off a stunner at the deep midwicket boundary to become the favourite of the Chennai crowd. Yusuf Pathan skied one to wide long-on, and Bollinger cupped it just inches from the rope. With the momentum threatening to take him over the rope, he threw the ball up, stepped behind the rope, got back into the field of play and took the catch. David Hussey pulled off a similar beauty in Delhi a few games back. What is it with Australians and boundary catches, you have to ask – Hussey, Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges and now Bollinger. Later, when Bollinger returned for a new spell, the wickets-starved crowd welcomed him as their new son with chants which grew louder with every dot ball.Hang on, he’s not ready
This was a field adjustment which missed everybody’s attention. When Shaun Tait ran in to bowl the third ball of the 15th over, he and the umpires failed to notice that the fielder hadn’t yet taken position at square third man. The fielder rushed to his position as fast as he could but Tait had delivered the ball. The fielder must have had his heart in his mouth when M Vijay upper cut the ball in his direction, but it sailed over the boundary. It would have been another story if Vijay didn’t get as much elevation.Wagh’s IPL initiation
Shrikanth Wagh’s IPL debut was a rollercoaster of a ride which lasted just six balls. The left-arm seamer from Maharashtra faced a stern examination against Matthew Hayden, who seemed determined to knock him out of the attack. The second, third and fourth balls were whacked to the on side for fours, but Wagh had the last laugh in the fifth. A half volley was slammed down extra cover’s throat and Wagh had dismissed his tormentor. Alas, he never bowled again.Murali mauled
It was a day of contrasting fortunes for two Muralis – Vijay and Muttiah Muralitharan. The offspinner fell prey to his attackers from Rajasthan Royals, who showed scant respect for the record-holder in Tests. More so Shane Watson, who clubbed him for three sixes and a four over the on side, all in one over. His round-the-wicket line was getting predictable and Watson chose to play with the spin. He leaked 23 off that over, and 52 off his four overs for a wicket. The search party was on for Bollinger after that mauling.

New South Wales will look to Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken to drive their bowling attack in 2010-11 after the pair was cut from Australia’s contract list. Clark is being considered as a full-time captain and Bracken will also have a mentoring role as the Blues aim to develop their exciting young talent.The fast bowler Trent Copeland, 24, has also been elevated to a full state contract following a record-breaking debut season. He joins a batch of young pacemen that includes the promising Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Moises Henriques.”The return of Clark and Bracken will greatly assist the development of our younger players,” New South Wales’ chief executive Dave Gilbert said. “New South Wales has the all-round depth to challenge in all three domestic competitions next year.”Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan has a Twenty20 contract while the senior players Dominic Thornely and Grant Lambert have been cut from the outfit. New South Wales have named a squad of 33 that includes their nine Cricket Australia-signed stars.New South Wales contracts Nathan Bracken, Mark Cameron, Beau Casson, Stuart Clark, Burt Cockley, Trent Copeland, Peter Forrest, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Phil Jaques, Usman Khawaja, Peter Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Tillakaratne Dilshan (Twenty20 contract).
Cricket Australia contracts Doug Bollinger, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Steven Smith, Shane Watson.
Rookies Tim Armstrong, Luke Doran, Nic Maddinson, Joe Mennie, Timm Van Der Gugten, Adam Zampa.

Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has apologised to the BCCI for his involvement in the incident at a St Lucia pub shortly after India’s exit from the ICC World Twenty20, but insisted that he along with six other Indian players did not instigate any trouble or retaliate against the Indian fans who abused them at the pub.In a letter addressed to the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, a copy of which is with Cricinfo, Jadeja said the cricketers were taunted by the fans, who refused to back down even after a request from the players. He said the players were not involved in a ‘brawl’, as it was believed to be earlier, but nevertheless was apologetic that the incident even took place. After the incident was made public, the BCCI responded by issuing show-cause notices to seven of the eight players in the pub.”I regret that the board has sent me a notice for the incident in the West Indies, and please accept my apology,” Jadeja wrote. “I had gone to the restaurant (pub) along with other Indian team members. Some other guests, which I presume were Indian origins of the USA, also came to the restaurant and on seeing us they started abusing us, this may be because they were unhappy with our poor performance. We requested them not to abuse us but they did not stop inspite of our repeated request. No way was I involved in any ugly brawl and I went to the pub only to have dinner with my team-mates.”Jadeja had a poor tournament, where he failed in all departments.The other players issued notices were Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, and M Vijay. The BCCI bosses, including its president Shashank Manohar, were said to be highly critical of the incident after hearing the report of team manager Ranjib Biswal in person. However, Biswal denied reports of a brawl, and said it was just a creation of the media.Srinivasan, when contacted, did not want to discuss the matter and refused to comment.

Australia 106 for 8 (Poulton 20, Browne 2-11) beat New Zealand 103 for 6 (Devine 38*, Perry 3-18) by 3 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEllyse Perry was the player of the match after her brilliant and calm performance with the ball•AFP

Australia’s women staged a dramatic comeback to go one better than the men after holding their nerve in a low-scoring final in Barbados. New Zealand deserved to be confident after restricting Australia to 106 for 8, but they could not deal with the suffocating pressure and fell four runs short to suffer their third loss in a row in a global final.Alex Blackwell’s side captured the early wickets they desperately needed and when Ellyse Perry struck twice in two overs New Zealand were a horrible 29 for 4. Perry, the fast bowler, added another late in the game and delivered a cool final over, allowing 10 when 14 were required. She finished with a highly impressive 3 for 18 and the player of the match prize, while the result ended Australia’s six-match losing streak to Aimee Watkins’ team in this format.Australia added the trophy to their five global 50-over prizes and succeeded in front of the men’s squad, which was beaten by England earlier in the afternoon. Michael Clarke, David Warner and Mitchell Johnson were among those to stay and watch the women, and the performance helped lift the mood of the green-and-gold supporters.Suzie Bates pulled the first ball of the chase for two and launched a six over long-on in an effort to settle the nerves, but Watkins was an early casualty. She fell to a superb leaping catch from Alex Blackwell after pulling to midwicket and Blackwell was also responsible for running out the powerful Sara McGlashan for 1.Australia started to believe when Bates (18) tried to hoick Perry down the ground and was caught by Sarah Elliott running around from mid-off. Perry followed up by knocking out Amy Satterthwaite’s off stump and Australia were suddenly the ones firmly on top.The spin of Shelley Nitschke (1 for 10 off four) and Lisa Sthalekar (0 for 19) added to the problems and at the half-way stage of the pursuit the batsmen were struggling to score at three an over. There was briefly an even greater concern for New Zealand when Rachel Priest was given out stumped, but the third umpire Asad Rauf had pressed the wrong button and “not out” quickly re-appeared on the big screen. Priest’s reprieve was short-lived and she departed after hitting out at Nitschke and an easy catch ballooned to Blackwell.Sophie Devine, who was unbeaten on 38 off 35, held firm and gained a helpful partner in Nicola Browne as they kept New Zealand in with a chance. However, even they were limited once they got settled and struggled to find the boundary or rotate the strike.Browne (20) became Perry’s third wicket with an edge behind while Devine hoped for some late intervention. Devine hit a four and a six off Rene Farrell’s penultimate over to leave them wanting 14 from the last six balls.Perry grabbed the ball and gave up a single off the first one before Devine got four consecutive twos. Devine required five off the last offering to win and she struck strongly straight but Perry, a talented footballer, stuck out her boot to deflect the ball to mid-on and New Zealand finished on 103 for 6. The Australians screamed in their huddle and their male counterparts applauded proudly.It was a sad end to the event for New Zealand, who lost the 50-over World Cup and World Twenty20 finals last year. From the moment Browne gained two wickets in her opening spell, leaving Australia 20 for 3, New Zealand seemed destined for victory. Browne starred while taking 2 for 11 in four consecutive overs as she enjoyed the extra pace on offer while Devine collected 2 for 21.Brown forced the opener Elyse Villani (6) to miscue a drive to cover for her first breakthrough. Another key wicket came with Blackwell’s exit for 0 after she cut a rising ball to Devine, who took a sharp catch in the gully.Not only did New Zealand’s attack keep taking wickets, but they also restricted the runs, just as Australia’s bowers did when it was their turn. The situation was so bad that Australia actually did well to reach three figures and a match-winning score. Sarah Elliott, who was unbeaten on 19, and Sthalekar (18 off 13) provided the much-needed boost at the end of the innings with a crucial stand of 27.Leah Poulton, the No.3, tried to rebuild initially, putting on 30 with Jess Cameron, but the batsmen could not escape and found only four boundaries. In the reply New Zealand managed two fours and two sixes.Poulton went to a catch at cover off Devine for 20 off 28 balls, while Cameron was bowled by Kate Broadmore’s opening effort for 14 off 24. That dismissal left them at 51 for 5 and there were further problems when Alyssa Healy (10) was run-out chasing a two after McGlashan had dropped her at square leg.The innings ended with a stunning one-handed catch by Watkins, who leapt high at cover to remove Farrell and stop a boundary. New Zealand had all the momentum at that point and Australia were left seeking a miracle in the field. They delivered it in wonderful style to end a mixed afternoon for their country on a high.

Pakistan have not selected former captain Younis Khan, whose indefinite ban was recently overturned, in their Test and Twenty20 squads for the tour of England between June and September. Fast bowler Umar Gul has recovered from his shoulder injury and makes a comeback after missing the ICC World Twenty20 and the Asia Cup.Younis, along with three team-mates, had been banned by the PCB following Pakistan’s winless tour of Australia in 2009-10. However, after filing appeals, Younis and Shoaib Malik were pardoned by the board. Malik made a comeback soon afterwards and played in the ongoing Asia Cup in Sri Lanka but Younis’ return has not been immediate.The selectors also included legspinner Danish Kaneria in the Test squad despite him being under investigation for allegations concerning his involvement in “match irregularities” during Essex’s Pro40 campaign last season. Shoaib Akhtar, who made a comeback to the national team during the Asia Cup, is part of the Twenty20 team but not the Test outfit. Shahid Afridi, the captain, had said that he didn’t think Shoaib was ready for a Test return. “I think his fitness will be tested in Test matches,” Afridi said.Also making a return to the Test team was opening batsman Yasir Hameed, who last’s appearance was against India at Bangalore in 2007. Fast bowler Mohammad Sami was cut from the squad that lost three Tests in Australia.Pakistan will first play Australia in two Twenty20 internationals and two Tests, followed by four Tests, two Twenty20s and five ODIs against England. The squad for the ODIs has not been named as yet.Twenty20 squad: Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hasan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam.Test squad: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Zulqarnain Haider, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Wahab Riaz, Tanvir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndrew Strauss got England’s chase off to brisk start with a 37-ball fifty•PA Photos

Andrew Strauss played the hare and Ian Bell the tortoise, as England returned to winning ways by making light work of a decent but ultimately unchallenging target of 251 in the first ODI against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge. Under the floodlights, and in front of a sparse 8,500 crowd, Strauss gave his side a flying start with 50 from 37 balls, before Bell ambled across the finish line with 29 balls to spare, having marked his first 50-over appearance since November 2008 with 84 not out from 101.The final result was in keeping with recent contests between these two teams. Bangladesh did not disgrace themselves – far from it – but neither were England required to reach top gear to maintain their 100% record. In Raqibul Hasan, last seen flouncing into “retirement” ahead of the Chittagong Test in March, Bangladesh showcased another young batsman with the technique and talent to add value to their often brittle middle-order, while Junaid Siddique showed sound judgment in his 70-ball 51. But England’s dominance was epitomised by James Anderson, who was smacked for 74 in ten overs, but was nevertheless able to weigh in with three wickets.With Mashrafe Mortaza returning to the captaincy that he relinquished through injury 12 months ago, Bangladesh won the toss and chose to play to their strengths by batting first. Sure enough, Tamim Iqbal picked up where he had left off in June by smacking consecutive fours from the first balls of both Anderson and Tim Bresnan’s new-ball spells, and at 40 for 0 after six overs, the stage was set for another of his whirlwind fifties.Stuart Broad, however, ended all such notions by pinning Tamim lbw for 28 as he attempted a glide to third man, and when Bangladesh were limited to seven runs from their next four overs, their hopes of racing to an impregnable total were dashed. When Imrul Kayes lobbed Anderson to Eoin Morgan at extra cover for 14, Bangladesh were 70 for 2 in the 14th over, but this time, the departure of the openers did not lead to the sort of surrender that had been witnessed during last month’s Test series.That was largely thanks to the earthy efforts of Siddique, who produced a handful of shots of real authority before being nailed lbw by Michael Yardy, and Raqibul, who would not have been playing had it not been for Jahurul Islam’s withdrawal through illness on the eve of the game. This was his first international since that Chittagong protest, but the headstrong naivety he had shown on that occasion was shelved for this performance.An arrow-straight drive off Paul Collingwood brought Raqibul an excellent fifty from 61 balls, and he might have expected more had it not been for a painful blow to the foot that brought about a somewhat farcical downfall. On 76, he was struck on the boot by an Anderson yorker, went down for lengthy treatment, and called for a runner. Before he had even faced another delivery, a three-man mix-up led to him being run out by the length of the pitch. It brought an unedifying end to his tour, after scans showed he’d sustained a broken toe, putting him out of action for two weeks.A late collapse of four wickets for 15 runs ensured a flaccid finish to Bangladesh’s innings, and that lack of oomph was put in context as soon as Strauss got into his stride in the run-chase. He cracked seven fours in first Powerplay to leave his team perfectly placed on 66 for 0 after 10 overs, but then, having brought up his half-century by dabbing Abdur Razzak through backward point for three, he answered Craig Kieswetter’s call for a sharp single in the same over, and was caught short of his crease by a pinpoint throw from Mahmudullah in the covers.Kieswetter at this stage had been trailing in his skipper’s wake on 19, much as he had done in each of the three innings of his debut series in Bangladesh back in March, when Alastair Cook had been the unlikely man to outscore him. He responded to the setback by flogging Razzak imperiously over long-off for an inside-out six, but before he could really hit his top gear, he sized up a slog-sweep against Shakib, and picked out Faisal Hossain on the midwicket boundary.At 93 for 2 in the 15th over, Collingwood came out to join Bell who was playing in his first ODI since November 2008, and the pair proceeded with utmost caution, picking off a solitary boundary between them in 13 overs. On 20, Bell was beaten by a beauty from Shakib that spat and turned, and flew away past batsman and keeper alike for four byes, but that was the full extent of England’s alarms.Of greater concern, however, was an incident at the end of the 26th over, when Bangladesh’s wicketkeeper, Mushfiqur Rahim, was struck on the cheekbone by a nasty lifting delivery from Faisal. His face swelled up almost immediately, and after a delay of several minutes, he was stretchered off the field and taken to hospital. He will now miss the final two matches against England but could return for Bangladesh’s fixtures against Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands at the end of the tour.His replacement behind the stumps, Junaid Siddique, was soon called upon, as Collingwood brought a dour partnership to an end by top-edging a mow across the line to give Shakib his second wicket, and Eoin Morgan made 23 from 26 balls before hoisting Razzak to deep midwicket. But for all the criticisms that have been levelled at Bell over the years, turning down a chance for easy runs is not one of them. He sealed the contest with a cut into the covers for his 84th run. It hardly amounted to a like-for-like replacement for Kevin Pietersen, but in the circumstances, it fitted England’s requirements precisely.