Date-stamped : 23 Feb95 - 14:32
England "A" v Bangladesh, ODI 2
played at National Stadium, Dhaka, 22 February 1995

Knight has another big day as Bangladesh run England "A" close

By Simon Hughes

Even as captain of England A, Mark Ramprakash has a cool, relaxed
presence  on  the  field.  If he is confronted with too many more
tight finishes like yesterday's, however, he will soon have a lot
more wrinkles and a lot less hair.

The eventual England victory, which gave them a 2-0 lead  in  the
three-game series of one-day internationals, was more comfortable
than the scores suggest, but  while  Aminul  Islam and   Mohammed
Rafique  were carving the bowling for eight an over in a seventh-
wicket stand of 82, a Bangladesh win looked a remote possibility.

The 10,000-strong crowd were aware of  this  and  every  run  was
celebrated  with  boisterous  rattling  of  the steel fencing and
ecstatic dancing. A brilliant diving catch  by Paul  Weekes   and
some crazy running between the wickets applied the dampers.

Despite some success in all five  ICC  Trophy  competitions,  the
Bangladesh attack is no better than a good English club side, but
on a slow wicket it is hard to dominate.

Nick Knight took the sensible approach of nurdling it  into  gaps
with  the  field pushed well back, and he and David Hemp advanced
at four an over without taking any risks. Later Knight  unleashed
his big bertha over midwicket, hitting three sixes and four fours
but for the most part was content to punch singles either side of
midwicket.  He  was dropped in the 50s and the 80s but these were
only minor blemishes in a fluent, well-executed  innings  -   his
second  limited-overs  century in six days. He was eventually out
in the final over for 117, made from 133 balls.

The Bangladesh batting is altogether more frenetic, with the same
mix  of  abandon  and  naivety  which characterised the early Sri
Lankan sides.

The openers Athar Ali  and  Javed  Belim  prospered  against  the
seamers  and  only  really came unstuck when the spinners, Weekes
and Richard Stemp, were operating in tandem. Stemp made a telling
contribution,  reducing  Bangladesh  from  99  for two to 103 for
five. He bowled Minhazul Abedin, deceived Akram Khan  two   balls
later with a slower delivery and then ran out Athar Ali for 46.

Both spinners clearly relished being allowed  to  set  their  own
fields for a change. Obviously Ramprakash is also a fully paid up
member of the Bowlers' Union.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)
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