Ian Bell scored his third century against Bangladesh and shared a hundred stand with Matt Prior as England took charge of the second and final Test at Old Trafford yesterday.
England were 399 for seven in their first innings at lunch on the second day after Bell had made 128.
Together with Prior, 80 not out, he shared an England record sixth-wicket stand of 153 against Bangladesh, surpassing the 143 he put on with Tim Bresnan at Mirpur, Bangladesh, in March.
PHOTO: AFP
It seemed England would get through the session without losing a wicket until Bell was bowled by a fine ball from Bangladesh captain and left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan, which pitched on middle and leg before turning past the outside edge to hit the stumps.
Then Graeme Swann was leg before wicket for 20 on the stroke of lunch to a quicker ball from left-arm spinner Abdur Razaak.
England resumed on 275 for five with Bell 87 not out and Prior 21 not out.
There were no nervous 90s, however, for Bell — who now averages 158.25 against Bangladesh.
He lofted Shakib over the bowler’s head for four and then off-drove him for another boundary to go to 97.
Bell’s three off the back foot against Razzak saw the 28-year-old Warwickshire right-hander to his 11th century in 56 Tests and his third in five matches against Bangladesh.
He reached the landmark in 193 balls with a six and 11 fours in just over four hours, having come in when England were struggling at 83 for three.
Bangladesh, who took the new ball in yesterday’s fourth over, almost had a wicket when Prior, on 29, miscued a hook off a Shafiul bouncer, but Mohammad Mahmudullah, running in from deep square-leg, bailed out of the catch at the last moment and the ball dropped just short of him.
Prior kept playing his shots though and a cut four off Razzak took the wicketkeeper to a 106-ball half-century.
The Bangladesh flag was flown at half-mast and the players wore black armbands after a fire in Dhaka on Friday killed at least 117 people.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set