Tour match, Derby (day two of four, close): Bangladesh 220 & 139-9 v England Lions 296 Match scorecard
 Davies left Worcestershire for Surrey in the summer |
Steven Davies gave a timely reminder of his talents as he top scored with 80 as England Lions dominated day two of their game with Bangladesh at Derby. The Surrey wicketkeeper scored at almost a run a ball before England were bowled out for 296, a lead of 74. The Tigers slumped to 43-5 and must have feared an innings defeat, but eventually finished the day on 139-9. Davies held five catches while Liam Plunkett (3-34) and Ravi Bopara (3-14) were the Lions' stand-out bowlers. Overlooked for England's victorious World Twenty20 squad after touring Bangladesh during the winter as reserve keeper, Davies had seen Craig Kieswetter stake his own claim for the England wicketkeeping position during their success in the Caribbean. But he will be pleased to have scored heavily and quickly in front of England team director Andy Flower and the national selectors.  | 606: DEBATE |
Andrew Gale, 63 not out after day one, added only 11 to his overnight score but Davies marshalled the lower order well, adding 84 with Chris Woakes (26) for the sixth wicket and 42 with James Harris (10) for the eighth. Tamim Iqbal gave Bangladesh a characteristically fast start, smashing 19 from 13 balls before he became the first of Davies's five victims behind the stumps. The inexperienced Jahurul Islam boosted his chances of a Test place by resisting for two-and-a-half hours to score 44 not out, but lost partners at regular intervals. Only Mahmudullah (21) and Abdur Razzak (30) reached double figures, but a two-day finish looked in prospect when Bopara's medium pace claimed three wickets in an over. With the last pair together, Bangladesh finished only 63 ahead, so the Lions will look to wrap up victory by lunch on Friday - while the Tigers must fear a mauling at the hands of England's senior team in the first Test at Lord's next Thursday, having struggled so much against the second-string Lions. However, while Davies, Gale and the seamers will hope to have nudged the selectors, left-arm spinner Monty Panesar has spent more time batting in this game - scoring nine runs in 20 minutes - than bowling, having only sent down two overs of the 100 bowled to Bangladesh across both innings.
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