Bangladesh v England, 3rd ODI, Chittagong

England 284 for 5 (Kieswetter 107) beat Bangladesh 239 for 9 (Aftab 46, Rahim 40, Bresnan 4-28) by 45 runs

England completed the much-expected whitewash over Bangladesh in Chittagong thanks to a mature maiden century from 22 year-old Craig Kieswetter. Often renowned amongst his fans at Somerset as a man eager to clear the ropes, Kieswetter instead provided much-needed solidity throughout England's innings, as his more experienced team mates failed to find any real fluency, the wicket-keeper-come-opener never allowed the hosts to settle into any rhythm and paved the way for a comfortable England victory.

Alastair Cook started brightly but again was undone by his opposite number Shakib Al Hasan, Cook trying to cut a flighted delivery only to feather an edgethrough to Mushfiqur Rahim who made no mistake. It seemed Kevin Pietersen had also failed to learn from his mistakes as Adbur Rassak once again trapped England's No. 3 in front despite a gigantic stride down the wicket. Paul collingwood and Eoin Morgan gave admirable support to Kieswetter both amassing 36, albeit Morgan's coming twice as quick, and as Luke Wright stepped up with only a handful of balls to go, he and Tim Bresnan took full advantage of England's dominant position and two fours and two sixes from the pint-sized pinch-hitter ensured the tourists finished with a sizeable 284 for 5 from their 50 overs.

Craig Kieswetter celebrates a wonderfully crafted hundred from 120 balls

Image courtesy of cricinfo.com

England's total was made to seem even more insurmountable as Yorkshire's 24 year-old Ajmal Shazhad removed the ever-explosive Tamim Iqbal in only his third ball in one-day cricket, the Bangladeshi opener slashing at a wide ball only to edge the ball to Tim Bresnan taking an athletic catch at third man. Bresnan was at the heart of the a action again now with the cherry in his hands, dismissing Imrul Kayes in the final ball of the first powerplay, wicket-keeper Matt Prior taking a superb catch diving forward to leave Bangladesh 40 for 2.

The hosts continued to battle admirably as Aftab Ahmed (46) and Mushfiqur Rahim (40) frustrated the England Attack. Unfortunately it was an error in communication that led to the breakthrough Ahmed glancing a ball from Graeme Swann straight to the man at square leg and charging to the other end where Mushfiqur was not interested, Ahmed left stranded halfway down. Five overs later and Mushfiqur was dismissed in almost equally disappointing circumstances, a well-timed sweep hit close enough to Bresnan at deep midwicket was gratefully gobbled up as the stocky Yorkshireman tumbled over the outfield.

Shakib Al-Hasan continued in the right spirit and was unlucky to have been adjudged LBW off the bowling of Pietersen, however by this point the rate was above ten runs per over and England managed to effectively restrict the likes of Suhrawadi Shuvo (11) and Naeem Islam (18) to ensure a 45 run victory.

Bresnan took the opportunity to notch up career best figures of 4 for 28, but it was Kieswetter who rightfully bagged the man-of-the-match award for setting up the whitewash. England had been effective but not clinical and at times the tourists were caught napping both with bat and ball. However some gritty individual displays coupled with Bangladesh's inability to hammer home an advantage proved the edge between these two sides.