Dhaka: Left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari dismissed Mahmudullah Riyad off the final ball of the day to bring England back into the contest in the second Test after Bangladesh surged ahead with 152/3 at stumps on the second day.
Bangladesh made a confident start in the second innings thanks to their top-order after Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid shared 99 runs for the ninth wicket to give England a vital 24-run first innings lead.
The hosts wiped out the deficit quickly and went for almost five runs in an over in the final session to put the pressure back on England before Ansari’s late strike restored some parity for the visitors.
Ansari earlier removed Tamim Iqbal for 40 to make the first innings century maker his maiden Test wicket and two balls later Ben Stokes got rid of Mominul Haque to put a brake on Bangladesh’s breakneck speed.
But Imrul Kayes, unbeaten on 59, and Mahmudullah shared 86 runs for the third wicket to help the home side claw back their advantage. They were leading England by 128 runs at the end of the second day’s play with seven wickets in hand, which must have given them hopes for setting a decent target for England to chase in the fourth innings.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 220 and 152/3 in 31 overs (Imrul Kayes 59 batting, Tamim Iqbal 40, Mahmudullah 47) vs England 244 (Joe Root 56, Chris Woakes 46, Rashid 44 M. Hasan 6/82).
