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England target Dhaka win

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 19/03/2010
Cricket betting

England go into the second Test match against Bangladesh in Dhaka as strong online betting favourites to clinch victory in the two-match series.

Alastair Cook's side emerged as 181-run victors in the first Test in Chittagong, despite some spirited cricket from the Tigers on the final day of the game.

Cook led the side ably in the absence of the rested Andrew Strauss, although England's team selection came in for criticism in many quarters.

The picking of six batsmen seemed to represent overkill and for the Mirpur game opener Michael Carberry could face the chop, despite a solid display on his Test debut.

Such a move would see either Jonathan Trott or Ian Bell move up the order to partner Cook, with wicketkeeper Matt Prior moving up to six.

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If England opt for the five-batsmen route, they will be afforded the luxury of an extra bowler, likely to be Kent off-spinner James Tredwell.

Tredwell's presence would take some of the pressure off Graeme Swann, who was the start of the show in Chittagong with ten wickets, although he had to deliver almost 79 overs to complete an impressive match haul.

On the seam bowling front Middlesex youngster Steven Finn impressed enough on his debut in the first Test to retain his place alongside Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan.

Meanwhile, Tigers captain Shakib Al Hasan believes that his side have plenty of reasons to be upbeat for the second Test, especially given the performances of batsmen Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Junaid Siddique in Chittagong.

Shakib commented: "Previously we have only seen one of our batsmen perform at a time. Now we have more than one batsman scoring runs, which is a positive thing.

"We are still improving, but we have much more discipline than the side we once were."

Siddique had most reason to be pleased, registering his maiden Test century, while wicketkeeper Mushfiqur made two fine half-centuries, falling five runs short of a deserved ton of his own in the second innings.

Bangladesh's bowling options are more of a concern, with only Shakib's left-arm spin making any impact in Chittagong, while the ploy of playing four spinners failed to pay dividends.

The only two seamers selected, Shahadat Hossain and Rubel Hossain, were both unable to worry England top-order, with the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza due to injury concerns a major blow.

England's victory in Chittagong made it five out of five against Bangladesh, with the only previous meeting in Dhaka ending in a seven-wicket win for the tourists back in October 2003.

That game took place at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, but this fixture will be staged at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, where Bangladesh have lost four and drawn once in five Test clashes.

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