England takes charge

London - England took charge of the first test at Lord's by limiting Bangladesh to 229-6 in a delayed afternoon session as it chased the host's first innings total of 505 on Saturday.

Bowlers Steven Finn and James Anderson exploited damp, overcast conditions to take 3-72 and 2-61 respectively, while Bangladesh's Junaid Siddique made 58 from 113 balls, including nine fours.

After the morning session was abandoned due to rain, play finally began in mid-afternoon. Siddique square cut the fourth ball of the day from Graeme Swann for four, but he added only a single before he was out, caught behind by Matt Prior to a sharply rising delivery from Finn.

Mohammad Ashraful made just 4 before he was trapped lbw by Finn, though television replays suggested the ball would have missed the stumps.

Jaharul Islam was out for 20, edging a ball from James Anderson to Prior and Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan made 25 before edging a delivery behind.

Prior failed to take the catch, but the ball deflected off his gloves to England captain Andrew Strauss at first slip, leaving Bangladesh still 77 runs short of the follow on target at tea.