Shahzad debuts as Bell bails out England

Four top-order batsmen got set in largely benign batting conditions after Andrew Strauss had completed the important business of winning the toss on a sunny morning.

But only Bell (87 not out) went on to threaten a century in a total of 275 for five by the time bad light and then rain brought an early close.

Bell, who took his career aggregate to 592 against these opponents - and his average almost back up to 200, after a rare first-Test failure at Lord's - shared half-century stands with Kevin Pietersen (64), Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior.

England needed his durability in the absence of a dominant contribution from anyone else, on a pitch which played a little more slowly than anticipated and spun prodigiously at a worryingly early stage.

By stumps, Bell had hit nine fours and a perfectly-executed six over long-on off Abdur Razzak from 171 balls to put himself within sight of his third Test hundred against Bangladesh.

Shahzad, 24, who becomes the first Yorkshireman to represent England in Test cricket, therefore comes in as the third seamer in a four-man attack.

He soon learned he would have to wait for his chance with the ball, though, after England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and chose to bat first on a sunny morning.

Bangladesh were wearing black armbands after a fire in Dhaka which killed more than 100 people overnight.