Absolutely loved the day at the cricket today, was wonderful to finally see some live stuff. Got some crazy sunburn and can barely talk now, but it was well worth it.
Jacob Oram was hitting everything in the middle right from the start of play, he looked really good and played a number of lovely flicks through mid-wicket. He played down the ground very well too, but never really looked that comfortable against any short bowling. Played Enamul Haque Jr as well as you could expect and the aerial loft over mid-on was very classy.
Matthew Bell was good, but didn't look quite as fluent as Oram. Was very aggressive early on against the short ball, but never really got one out of the middle when pulling. He was stuck in the 90's for quite a while and had about five cracks at cutting through point but didn't time any of them, unusual considering he likes to make runs through that spot.
McCullum got a beauty, and it was a top not catch from Junaid. Amazing how the crowd gave him a huge ovation when he came out and was dead silent when he was dismissed. Mills, Vettori and O'Brien were all hitting the ball really nicely in the nets, managed to get a few good pictures of them having throw-downs. Vettori looked really comfortable out in the middle, and kept the tail alive.
However, the big story of the day, and his life, was the 12* made by one Christopher Stewart Martin. The applause was amazing when he walked out to bat, and I actually said to my cousin "Watch this mate, this guy is useless". A huge roar from the crowd greeted the first ball he faced, because he wasn't dismissed, and we all went nuts when he made a run. The cover drive he hit was just awesome, virtually the whole crowd were laughing but applauding. It was also pretty funny when the crowd starting chanting "Single" when O'Brien was on strike and Martin was starting to hit the ball well. When he reached double figures I'm pretty sure he got more recognition from the crowd than Bell and Oram did when they scored their centuries.
From the bowling point of view, I liked the look of Sajidul Islam. Decent pace, looked like he could do a bit with the ball, and being a left-armer added variety. Mashrafe Mortaza was steady, looked as though he was struggling with injury at the start of the day, but got better as play went on. Shahadat was lively, but erratic, something that we've become all too familiar with. Enamul Haque Jr was rubbish though. Pushed the ball through, bowled way too quick and never gave himself a chance of dip or loop, and he was afraid that Oram was going to tonk him out of the ground.
I had to leave at tea, but from what I saw of our bowling, it was far too short. We overdid the bouncers and none of them were really that effective. Tamim and Junaid had some luck, but struck some very good shots. Nice to see them doing well, and the highest opening stand in the history of Bangladesh cricket.
BTW, Oram's massive 6 was hit right over top of me, while the four to bring up his century was hit infront of us, but I was getting something to eat so missed it
All in all, an awesome day, and one I'll never forget
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