Swann can be ‘one of the greats’

England captain praises spinner after maiden 10-wicket haul in Tests against Bangladesh.

Swann
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Swann dismisses Mushfiqur Rahim to claim his 10th wicket of the match [AFP]

England captain Alastair Cook says Graeme Swann can be “one of the greats” after the spinner took his first 10-wicket haul in Tests.

Swann, who had already made a habit of taking five-fors in the long form of the game, rattled through the Bangladesh order to reach double figures on Tuesday.

It helped overcome some stubborn resistance from Bangladesh and register a 181-run victory on the fifth afternoon of the first Test in Chittagong.

Off-spinner Swann ended a battling 167-run sixth-wicket partnership in the second over after the lunch break to dash any hopes Bangladesh had to saving the match as England ran through the tail after struggling for more than two sessions.

“Swanny has so much control of his game, he is very easy to captain. He knows the fields he wants and you trust him to make the breakthrough,” Cook, who is deputising for Andrew Strauss on this tour, said on Tuesday.

“To get 10 on that wicket was an amazing effort and he bowled a lot of overs, so that shows determination.

“Everything is going right for him and the skill he’s shown over the past 12 months shows it’s not a fluke.

“If he keeps his feet on the ground, there’s no reason why he can’t be one of the greats.”

Maiden century

Zunaed Siddique struck his maiden Test century and received valuable support from vice-captain Mushfiqur Rahim as Bangladesh saw off the morning session without the loss of a wicket in pursuit of a world record victory target of 513.

Day five scorecard

England first innings 599-6 dec
Bangladesh first innings 296
England second innings 209-7 dec

Bangladesh second innings (o/n 191-5)
T Iqbal b Swann 14
I Kayes c Prior b Finn 23
Z Siddique c Collingwood b Swann 106
A Ahmed c Prior b Bresnan 26
Mahmudullah b Bresnan 5
S Hasan lbw b Swann 4
M Rahim b Swann 95
N Islam c Carberry b Swann 36
A Razzak lbw b Broad 1
S Hossain c Prior b Bresnan 12
R Hossain not out 0
Extras 9
Total (all out; 124 overs) 331
Fow 1-33 2-45 3-99 4-105 5-110 6-277 7-294 8-301 9-327

However, Zunaed was unable to add to his lunch score of 106, giving a catch to Paul Collingwood at slip after spending more than six-and-a-half hours at the crease and negotiating 292 balls in an innings which included 17 fours.

Coming together with the score on 110-5 around 20 minutes before tea on the fourth day, Zunaed and Rahim batted out more than two sessions to revive Bangladesh’s faint hopes of getting something out of the match.

Once Zunaed departed, Rahim soon followed when he charged down the wicket to a Swann delivery but missed the line and was bowled for 95.

The diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman, who also scored fifty in the first innings, struck 12 fours in his 212-ball vigil.

“We were a little bit concerned. Full credit to the way those two fought, they didn’t give us any chances,” Cook said.

“If you apply yourself and bat really well, (you are) really hard to get out.

“It was easy to get frustrated but the way we kept our emotions in check to keep our skill level high was very important.”

Raced

England then raced through the tailenders as Bangladesh, who had resumed on 191-5, were eventually dismissed for 331 in their second innings.

“Everything is going right for him and the skill he’s shown over the past 12 months shows it’s not a fluke”

Alastair Cook, stand-in England captain

Naeem Islam was the last man out, caught by Michael Carberry off Swann at midwicket after making 36 off 45 balls, blasting three sixes and as many fours in his cameo to give the handful of supporters remaining in the stadium something to cheer.

All but one of his boundaries came off Swann, who finished the second innings with figures of 5-127 and was named man of the match after his overall 10-217 performance.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan believed that had Zunaed and Rahim survived a little longer into the afternoon session, the hosts would have had a chance.

“During lunch, I told Mushfiqur (Rahim) we needed to work hard for around 40 more minutes to do something, but we could not do it,” he said.

“They came back strongly after the break and showed their character. They are really professional and they kept bowling in the good areas that created the pressure on us.”

The second and final Test starts in Dhaka on Saturday.

Source: News Agencies