Kieswetter seals whitewash

Somerset man hits maiden century as Cook grabs series win as captain

Kieswetter: Maiden ODI century

Third One Day InternationalChittagong
England 284-5 Innings Complete (C Kieswetter 107) v Bangladesh 239-9
Innings Complete (T T Bresnan 4-28)
England beat Bangladesh by 45 runs

Craig Kieswetter fired a maiden international century as England completed a 3-0 series whitewash over Bangladesh with a comfortable 45-run success in Chittagong.

Kieswetter battled hard to make 107 as England posted 284-5 when being asked to bat first, with a late flurry of 32 from just 13 balls from Luke Wright boosting the total beyond the 250-mark.

Bangladesh suffered a huge blow when England debutant Ajmal Shahzad got rid of opener Tamim Iqbal, who blazed 125 in the series opener in Dhaka, for a duck in the first over of the innings.

The hosts recovered to build a solid response at 144-4 after 30 overs, but their naivety came through and a flurry of late wickets saw them close on 239-9 as England completed an emphatic series victory.

Tim Bresnan was the main man to benefit at the end as he improved his figures to 4-28 from nine overs, while Graeme Swann again bowled tightly and took two wickets as Alastair Cook made a confident debut as England captain for the series.

Three figures

After a disappointing first two ODIs for England, Kieswetter justified his selection in his third match with a century that showed more of his battling qualities than free-flowing stroke play, as he battled against the spinners to reach his 50 off 80 balls.

The 22-year-old did cut loose more after getting his half-century though, as he doubled his total in just another 41 deliveries to bring up three figures and eventually make 107 off 124 balls.

Captain Cook scored 32 while Kevin Pietersen failed to put an end to the question marks over his recent form, making a subdued 22 before falling lbw to Abdur Razzak for the second match in a row.

Paul Collingwood combined with Kieswetter for 74 before holing out to Suhrawordi Suvo on 36, while Eoin Morgan rode his luck with two drops until Shafiul Islam accounted for him for the same score.

Wright put the exclamation mark on the innings as he came in and hammered two sixes and two fours in his 13-ball cameo worth an unbeaten 32 as England closed on a more-than-healthy 284-5.

Early wicket

Shahzad was handed the new ball and, just as he did on his Twenty20 bow in Dubai last month, obliged his captain with a wicket in his first over as he removed danger man Iqbal for nought, as he was caught by Bresnan at third man.

The hosts countered with two decent partnerships, with Aftab Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahim compiling 56 before a horribly mis-judged single saw Aftab run out for 46, which would prove to be the top score for the hosts.

Rahim made 40 before finding mid-wicket off Swann, while skipper Shakib Al Hasan also got a start with 38 but was also unable to go on, although he was unlucky to be given out lbw against Pietersen when the ball hit him well outside the line of off stump.

At 162-5, Bangladesh then lost their chance of winning as Naeem Islam and Mahmudullah's partnership laboured, and the hosts missed an obvious chance to take their batting powerplay with the two men set but not scoring quickly enough.

Naeem's 18 off 31 and Mahmudullah's 33 from 54 showcased their slow scoring rate, and the tail quickly threw away their wickets to hand Bresnan career best figures, England a 45-run victory and Cook a comfortable move into captaincy with a series whitewash.