Bangladesh v England 2nd Test, Day 2 - 5 Talking Points

Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes walked out to bat in the last session of the day with 24 runs in arrears and they cleared it off without much ado and got off to a good start in the second inning but before they could end the day in complete dominance England slid back in as Zafar Ansari chipped in with a couple of wickets and Ben Stokes removed Mominul Haque. They walked back on day 2 with 152 runs on the board for the loss of 3 wickets with a lead of 128 runs.

1. England lose 5 in the first session:

England started with the pair of Joe Root and Moeen Ali. The English all-rounder was removed early by the teenage spinner Mehedi Hasan from Bangladesh who while playing only the second Test of his career has already had an impressive impact. Ben Stokes didn’t trouble the scorers and became the first scalp for Taijul Islam.

Joe Root played the anchor for England in the morning session as he had his share of luck while struggling as the ball went past his bat missing the outside edge, and when it did take the edge, he was lucky to survive a tough chance. But Root after scoring a half century was dismissed just at the stroke of Lunch and England went back 8 down after an extended first session where 40 overs were bowled.

2. Woakes-Rashid partnership:

It was then that a mighty partnership kicked in. The ninth wicket pair of Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid were in no mood to let Bangladesh take lead and got together a 99-run partnership. The highest for the particular wicket for Bangladesh against this opponent. It also got England a valuable 24 runs lead. Both the batsmen survived one using the DRS and one despite the use of it. Woakes’ knock in particular, was a crucial one and had a life blessed from the TV umpire.

Also check out- Twitter Reactions: Bangladesh lead by 128 runs at the end of day 2

3. Was that a no ball?

In the 73rd over Woakes hit a high bouncer from Sabbir Rahman straight to the mid-wicket fielder as he started his return journey the umpires had a brief chat and decided to go upstairs to confirm if the ball was a bit too high. Chris Gaffney took his time with the reviews but eventually decided to call it a no-ball. The HawykEye later suggested that it was on a downward trend and would have rather hit the root of the stumps but the umpire had made his decision and Woakes received a reprieve.

Mehedi came back to get them the most important wicket and Finn didn’t add anything to the total either. The off-spinner claimed the second six-for and that was enough to show the visitors troubles against off-spin. England managed a slender lead but that only gave the game an interesting turn.

4. Positive start for Bangladesh:

Tamim and Kayes made sure the second inning started off smoothly while the centurion from the first knock missed out on a half-century this time returning back for 40. Kayes kept going and found another stable partner in Mahmudullah. The former scored a fifty and was unbeaten at stumps on 59. While Mahmudullah batted really well for his 47 that he scored from 57 deliveries but had a brain freeze moment on the last ball as he looked to sweep Ansari but couldn’t connect and was bowled.

Bangladesh batted for 31 overs on day 2 and were really positive in their approach, the batsmen didn’t really look under pressure and that definitely helped them score freely along with the fact that on a wicket that gripped furthermore they didn’t really have the quality in their spin bowling attack as against the hosts to force the batsmen to commit mistakes.

Also read- BAN v ENG, 2nd Test Day 2 Review: Rashid and Woakes help England scamper to safety

5. Zafar Ansari brings England back in the hunt:

Tamim and Kayes made sure the second inning started off smoothly while the centurion from the first knock missed out on a half-century as he was dismissed on 40 by Ansari caught by skipper Alastair Cook. Kayes kept going and found another stable partner in Mahmudullah. But just as Bangladesh looked to end the day with two set batsmen on the last ball Mahmudullah was clean bowled by Zafar Ansari on 47 to bring back his team in the game.