Afzaal ton steers Surrey to safety

Usman Afzaal gained valuable time in the middle en route to 159 not out as Surrey batted for all of the final day to claim a draw

Former England Test batsman Usman Afzaal rolled back the years by hitting an unbeaten 159 against Bangladesh in their tour opener at the Brit Oval that petered out into a tame draw.

Played out in bitterly cold conditions over all three days and on pitch that offered little or no assistance to spinners and seamers alike, Afzaal showed all his class and experience in his 155-ball knock.

The burly left-hander came to the crease with his inexperienced side in trouble at 61 for two - a narrow lead of only seven - but when the sides shook hands on the draw he had posted the ninth 150-plus score of his career and batted the hosts to safety.

The tourists declared on their overnight total of 372 for six for a first-innings advantage of 54, and Surrey lost Arun Harinath for 20 and Tom Lancefield for 11 inside the first 22 overs of the final day.

Left-handed Harinath needlessly chased a wide one to nick Mahbubul Alam to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, while Lancefield was left kicking himself after pulling a Shahadat Hossain long-hop into the hands of the substitute fielder at midwicket.

Afzaal, who played all three of his Tests against Australia in 2001, marched in to immediately show his intentions.

He spanked his first ball past gully for four and pulled his second over midwicket for another boundary.

In tandem with rookie right-hander Laurie Evans, the third wicket partners added 225 in 44 overs to take the chance of a result well out of the reach of a near-frozen Bangladesh attack.

Surrey’s only mistake of the afternoon came at 286 for two and Evans just two short of his second first-class century.

Backing up at the non-striker’s end, he watched in horror as spinner Mahmudullah finger-tipped Afzaal’s back-foot drive onto the stumps to run him out after four and a half hours at the crease.

There was no shifting Afzaal, however, and he was still unbeaten with 23 fours and six to his name by the time the sides shook hands on a draw with Surrey on 313 for three and 259 runs ahead.

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons afterwards said: “I thought our bowlers bowled a bit too short.

"We talked about pitching it up, but they still want to bang it in and try and get a wicket that way rather than be patient and wait for them to make a mistake.”