Swann on song as England take command despite Iqbal’s back-to-back ton

MANCHESTER - England off-spinner Graeme Swann’s splendid five wicket haul restricted Bangladesh to 216 in their first innings despite left hand batsman Tamim Iqbal’s entertaining century in the second Test here at the Old Trafford.

Bangladesh were 203 runs behind England’s 419, just four runs shy of avoiding the follow-on when the second day’s play was called off, which meant that England captain Andrew Strauss did not have to decide immediately whether he wanted to make Bangladesh bat again or not.

Bangladesh started their chase on a positive note and were 126 without loss, but after tea a dramatic batting collapse, which has now almost become a feature for the Asian minnows, saw them losing all their wickets for just 120 more runs.

None of the Bangladeshi batsmen looked comfortable at the crease apart from Iqbal (108) who scored a run-a-ball hundred with a six and 11 boundaries.

This was Iqbal’s second hundred in as many innings.

For England, the hero of the day was Swann, who took five for 76 runs in 22.1 overs.

He was ably supported by debutant fast bowler Ajmal Shahzad who finished with three for 45 in 10 overs.

Earlier, resuming the day on 275 for five, Ian Bell (128) and Matt Prior (93) powered England to a formidable first innings score of 419.

For Bangladesh, skipper Shakib al Hasan was the pick of the bowlers with five for 121, while both Shafiul Islam and Abdul Razzak picked a couple of wickets each.

Score in brief:

Bangladesh 216 (Tamim 108, Swann 5-76) trail England 419 (Bell 128, Prior 93, Shakib 5-121) by 203 runs. (ANI)