Bell's brilliance rings true as England make runs in the sun

Bangladesh 108 & 90-5 England 528-3 dec

Between 1.35pm and 1.55pm yesterday afternoon England lost two wickets against Bangladesh for the addition of only 12 runs. It could hardly be described as a collapse. Before edging catches to Khaled Mashud, the tourists' wicketkeeper, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick had together added 255 runs to the cause and England were more than 300 runs ahead.

Between 1.35pm and 1.55pm yesterday afternoon England lost two wickets against Bangladesh for the addition of only 12 runs. It could hardly be described as a collapse. Before edging catches to Khaled Mashud, the tourists' wicketkeeper, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick had together added 255 runs to the cause and England were more than 300 runs ahead.

This 20-minute period in the first Test proved to be the most competitive on another day of total domination by England. Vaughan and Trescothick rattled up hundreds against Bangladesh's threadbare attack, and Graham Thorpe spent an hour and a half attempting to convince the selectors that he should remain part of their plans.

But the most encouraging sight was that of Ian Bell gaining further experience in the Test arena. The bowling the Warwickshire batsman faced during his 112-minute stay may have been no stronger than that of a decent club side in the Birmingham League, but the chance of batting in front of 20,000 spectators at the home of cricket does not come around too often, and it was pleasing too see this talented young player make the most of his opportunity.

On his way to 65 Bell played several gorgeous strokes. The 23-year-old's first boundary came from a back-foot drive that raced through gully for four. This shot was followed by an extra cover drive, which could be used in future coaching videos. And just to show everyone that he can collect runs all around the wicket Bell then clipped one off his toes for four.

Bell's opportunity to impress ended on 65 when Vaughan declared 20 minutes after tea. By then England's had reached 528 for 3, which gave them a lead of 420, and the bowlers would have fancied the chance of a 22-over burst at their demoralised opponents.

The timing of England's declaration had generated a great deal of interest during the day, and there were light-hearted suggestions that David Collier, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, had visited Vaughan in the dressing-room and asked him to bat all day. The fear for the ECB was that this game would end in two days, and 17,000 spectators would be entitled to a refund adding up to more than £300,000.

The ECB would have breathed a huge sigh of relief when the umpires ended play at 5.45pm. After 16 overs of Bangladesh's reply, and with the tourists on 65 for 5, it looked as though England would win inside two days. But Aftab Ahmed and Mashud hung in and prevented Vaughan from becoming the fourth captain since the Second World War to achieve such a comprehensive victory.

Matthew Hoggard gave England the perfect start when he dismissed Nafees Iqbal in his third over. The right-hander once again failed to deal with a short-of-a-length delivery that bounced and edged a sharp chance to Andrew Flintoff at second slip.

Javed Belim and the Bangladesh captain, Habibul Bashar, managed to keep their wickets intact for six overs but the introduction of Simon Jones brought an immediate response. A diminutive right-hander, Bashar seems preoccupied with the short ball and for the second time in the match fell playing a ghastly pull stroke, which Hoggard collected at deep square-leg.

And it was Jones who claimed the third Bangladesh wicket when Thorpe took an excellent catch at short-leg. A score of 57 for 3 became 60 for 4 when Mohammad Ashraful failed to control a short ball from Flintoff. It was astonishing to see Stephen Harmison leap like a salmon in the gully and take a wonderful one-handed catch.

Mushfiqur Rahim gloved a similar delivery through to Jones in Flintoff's next over and at this moment the ECB were beginning to fret. Yet despite Bangladesh not losing another wicket they are still not safe. Should England wrap up the match in 10 overs this morning, spectators will be entitled to a full refund, and if it ends within 25 overs they will receive 50 per cent of their money back.

Batting looked easy in the morning when Vaughan and Trescothick filled their boots. Trescothick was dropped on 87, and the England captain was fortunate to escape a close lbw appeal before he reached 50. A total of 177 runs were added in the morning session and both batsmen passed personal milestones.

Trescothick's 11th Test hundred was his first at Lord's. And when Vaughan subsequently passed three figures he became the second batsman - Jack Hobbs is the other - to score a century in three consecutive innings at the home of cricket. Vaughan fell to a good delivery from Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Trescothick, on 194, nicked one cutting. But by then both players had taken all they wanted from the exercise.

Lord's Scoreboard

England won toss

England - First innings

M E Trescothick c Khaled Mashud

b Mohammad Rafique 194

366 min, 259 balls, 23 fours

A J Strauss lbw b Mashrafe Mortaza 69

143 min, 93 balls, 10 fours

*M P Vaughan c Khaled Mashud b Mashrafe Mortaza 120

203 min, 174 balls, 15 fours

I R Bell not out 65

114 min, 94 balls, 7 fours, 1 five

G P Thorpe not out 42

95 min, 72 balls, 2 fours

Extras (b 4, lb 11, w 3, nb 20, pens 0) 38

Total (for 3 dec, 462 min, 112 overs) 528

Fall: 1-148 (Strauss), 2-403 (Vaughan), 3-415 (Trescothick).

Did not bat: A Flintoff, ÝG O Jones, G J Batty, S P Jones, M J Hoggard, S J Harmison.

Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 29-6-107-2 (6-1-18-0 9-4-22-1 6-0-35-0 8-1-32-1), Shahadat Hossain 12-0-101-0 (nb10,w1) (4-0-41-0 5-0-28-0 3-0-32-0), Anwar Hossain 22-0-110-0 (nb9,w1) (7-0-22-0 2-0-16-0 6-0-40-0 7-0-32-0), Mohammad Rafique 41-3-150-1 (nb1) (26-2-99-0 15-1-51-1), Aftab Ahmed 8-1-45-0 (w1) (1-1-0-0 4-0-29-0 3-0-16-0).

Progress: First day: 50: 40 min, 7.5 overs. Tea 70-0 (Trescothick 34, Strauss 28) 11 overs. 100: 102 min, 20.2 overs. 150: 149 min, 30.5 overs. Close 188-1 (Trescothick 78, Vaughan 22) 46 overs. Second day: 200: 213 min, 49.2 overs. 250 in 247 min, 59 overs. 300 : 283 min, 65.4 overs. 350: 313 min, 73.1 overs. Lunch 365-1 (Trescothick 165, Vaughan 103) 76 overs. 400: 343 min, 80.3 overs. 450: 397 min, 94 overs. Tea 497-3 (Bell 53, Thorpe 28) 106 overs. 500: 445 min, 106.4 overs. Declaration: 3.50pm.

Trescothick 50: 114 min, 76 balls, 9 fours. 100: 230 min, 161 balls, 13 fours. 150: 308 min, 211 balls, 19 fours. Strauss 50: 105 min, 68 balls, 8 fours. Vaughan 50: 99 min, 98 balls, 7 fours. 100: 176 min, 157 balls, 14 fours. Bell 50: 82 min, 65 balls, 5 fours, 1 five.

Bangladesh - Second innings

Javed Omar c Thorpe b S Jones 25

59 min, 44 balls, 3 fours

Nafees Iqbal c Flintoff b Hoggard 3

16 min, 11 balls

Habibul Bashar c Hoggard b S Jones 16

31 min, 17 balls, 2 fours, 1 five

Aftab Ahmed not out 26

57 min, 23 balls, 1 four

Mohammad Ashraful c Harmison

b Flintoff 2

6 min, 7 balls

Mushfiqur Rahim c G Jones b Flintoff 3

9 min, 9 balls

ÝKhaled Mashud not out 6

29 min, 27 balls, 5 fours

Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 0, nb 6, pens 0) 9

Total (for 5, 106 min, 22 overs) 90

Fall: 1-15 (Nafees Iqbal), 2-47 (Habibul Bashar), 3-57 (Javed Omar), 4-60 (Mohammad Ashraful), 5-65 (Mushfiqur Rahim).

Bowling: Hoggard 5-1-20-1 (nb4) (one spell), Harmison 5-0-20-0 (nb1) (3-0-14-0 2-0-6-0), Flintoff 6-0-35-2 (nb1), S Jones 6-2-12-2 (one spell each).

Progress: Second day: 50: 53 min, 10.5 overs.

Umpires: K Hariharan (India) and D J Harper (Aus).

TV replay umpire: J W Lloyds.

Match referee: A G Hurst.