Steven Finn has probably lost count of the number of wickets he has taken at Lord's, but he will never forget his first on his home ground in Test cricket.
The 21-year-old Middlesex seamer provided the only success for an England bowler on a tough second day of the npower series against Bangladesh, which closed with the tourists on 172 for two in reply to 505.
Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique both hit half-centuries as Bangladesh fought back following Jonathan Trott's 226.
But Finn found extra bounce in his second spell from his favoured pavilion end to see off opener Imrul Kayes.
"It was a fantastic feeling to get my first (Test) wicket at Lord's in front of that crowd and the atmosphere," he said.
"Initially, I wasn't sure whether he had gloved it or it came off his forearm or what, but I was excited to see it go through like that."
Finn accepts there is likely to be much hard work ahead on a slow pitch before England can celebrate the expected victory here and in the second Test at Old Trafford.
But he has seen enough already to believe they can cash in and even induce a Bangladesh collapse if they use the conditions well.
"At the moment it looks like a battle of attrition, us again trying to limit their boundary options and being clever with field-setting and able to attack at the right time," he added.
"But you can see one going up, one going down. We're still 300 odd runs ahead, so if we can get a couple of quick wickets that's going to be in the back of their minds that they could potentially be following on within a session."
Bangladesh's batting backbone did not surprise Finn, who had to settle for one wicket in each innings in his first two Tests during a hard-working 2-0 victory over the same opponents on the sub-Continent this winter.
"We saw them bat like that in Chittagong and Dhaka earlier in the year," Finn added. "They're a developing team who are getting better game by game.
"They have players who are dangerous and it's important we don't take them lightly, treat them with respect and have to be able to build dots against them.
"We're not just going to be able to blast them away, we have to build pressure, which will in turn get us wickets.
"The important thing is to use the new ball, because we know the Bangladeshis will struggle against the moving ball."
Tamim raced to his 50 at approaching a run-a-ball, a typical tempo for the young opener.
"Obviously, Tamim is going to come out and play his way," added Finn.
"But if we can 'dot him up' second innings, when he's faced two or three on the trot, he'll play a silly shot, try to slash one that's too straight through point.
"There's been a bit of variable bounce and that could be a big thing for us and work to our advantage tomorrow.
"Swanny's got a few to go down, I've got a few to go down and up and a few of the others have too."
Shahadat Hossain (five for 98) was the real success story for Bangladesh today, reaping late rewards for a much-improved performance with the ball.
He admitted that, after his first Test appearance at Lord's four years ago, he feared the worst for his career.
"On my debut here in 2005 I was very nervous," he said. "I had a nightmare debut. I never felt I would get a second chance to come to Lord's.
"I thought if I get another chance at Lord's I must make amends.
"It's the first time Bangladesh has got a name in the book [on the Lord's honours board]. That's very important."
No comments:
Post a Comment