England in total control at Durham

England led by 165 runs after a dominant first day at Durham

The Bulletin by Jenny Thompson

England 269 for 3 (Trescothick 151, Vaughan 44, Bell 57*) lead Bangladesh 104 (Javed Omar 37, Harmison 5 for 38) by 165 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball
How they were out

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Steve Harmison bowls Habibul Bashar, one of his five victims © Getty Images

Steve Harmison starred with the ball and Marcus Trescothick with the bat as England steered themselves into an unassailable position against Bangladesh on just the first day at Durham. An electrifying Harmison frazzled Bangladesh with 5 for 38 to shoot them out for 104, while Trescothick blazed 151 to give England a lead of 165 by the close. Michael Vaughan added 44 and Ian Bell was unbeaten on 57 at stumps, with Graham Thorpe also at the crease. Only Javed Omar (37) and Khaled Mashud (22) offered any resistance for the visitors, and England are in with a real chance of winning the match inside two days.

England's bowlers were on the money from the off - unlike at Lord's - while the Bangladesh batsmen offered fewer false shots in the first Test; yet both first innings for the visitors ended in the same way - just above the 100-mark. And, as in the series opener, Trescothick again cashed in. His was a coruscating innings, coming from 148 balls and which included 21 fours and two sixes. It both entertained and did the job.

The day started as widely expected, with wickets aplenty after Vaughan sent Bangladesh in, showing his attacking intent from the off. He followed this up with 44 in just 40 balls, with Trescothick, the hero on the day, in similar attacking mood.

Harmison grabbed the first two of the five wickets to fall - Nafees Iqbal and Habibul Bashar - but Omar started brightly too, the highlight of his first hour a crisp flick off Harmison through midwicket for four. It was a controlled innings by Omar, with several neat punches on the leg-side and some powerful driving on the off. When he eventually fell he received a generous round of applause from a near-capacity crowd at the 9,500 seater stadium who were grateful to witness some fighting spirit. But yet again there was little else for Bangladesh to cheer about as the home side, led by the home boy, seized control. He added Aftab Ahmed after lunch before wrapping up the tail - Mashrafe Mortaza and Mashud - all in all a masterclass in hostile fast bowling. It was a well-deserved haul, for all of Bangladesh's inexperience.

The breakthrough didn't take long, Harmison induced Iqbal's edge with just 17 runs to Bangladesh's total and he added Bashar shortly afterwards. The captain Bashar's miserable series with the bat continued with another embarrassing dismissal, when he played a yorker too late. It wasn't the short stuff he had come to expect but what was expected was England's dominance. Simon Jones followed up by removing Mohammad Ashraful thanks to Geraint Jones' catch, his 50th dismissal in Tests. Jones didn't put a glove wrong in all of the 39.5 overs it took England to kill off Bangladesh, and he was rewarded with six catches.

Where Harmison led, Hoggard followed, by removing Mohammad Rafique and Tapash Baisya in quick succession, and he broke out into his broad grin in delight. Gareth Batty was all smiles too, after finally getting his name on the scorecard in the eighth session of the series to date. His blinding one-handed catch to dismiss Rafique was met with cheers which were both ironic and yet certainly appreciative of his stunning dive low to his left.

But it was the home hero Harmison and the tall, traditional Trescothick who did the bulk of the damage on a painful day for the visitors. Now it's a case of when, not if, England win.

How they were out

Bangladesh

Nafees Iqbal c Strauss b Harmison 7 (16 for 1)
Thick-edged drive off a fuller ball to a diving third slip

Habibul Bashar b Harmison 6 (27 for 2)
Played a searing yorker too late

Mohammad Ashraful c G Jones b S Jones 3 (34 for 3)
Fine edge after being squared up

Rajin Saleh c Thorpe b Flintoff 2 (42 for 4)
Looped easy catch off short-of-a-length delivery to short leg

Javed Omar c G Jones b Hoggard 37 (59 for 5)
Strangled down the leg-side

Aftab Ahmed c G Jones b Harmison 6 (69 for 6)
Flashed at one just outside the off stump

Mohammad Rafique c Batty b Hoggard 9 (87 for 7)
Chipped up to gully for fabulous one-handed diving catch to left

Tapash Baisya c G Jones b Hoggard 0 (87 for 8)
Regulation edge through

Mashrafe Mortaza c G Jones b Harmison 1 (93 for 9)
Forced onto backfoot and fends tame edge

Khaled Mashud c G Jones b Harmison 22
Pushed at short one

England

Andrew Strauss lbw Mashrafe Mortaza 8 (18 for 1)
Shouldered arms to one which nipped back in

Michael Vaughan c Mashud b Mortaza 44 (105 for 2)
Regulation edge

Marcus Trescothick c Ashraful b Ahmed 151 (260 for 3)
Holed out at long-on attempting another six

Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Cricinfo

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