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

England can thank Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes for getting them out of the rut they had dug for themselves following the onslaught by the Bangladeshi spinners in the first innings. As far as the hosts were concerned, it was the brilliance of Mehedi Hasan that came to the fore yet again as he claimed a five-wicket haul.

However, the day was well and truly claimed by the brilliance of Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes while the rest of the English wickets fell like a pile of dominoes. The day began with Bangladesh requiring seven wickets to complete the England innings and force themselves back in the game following that inadvertent collapse on the previous day.

Within the first 10 overs of the day, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes fell within a few deliveries of each other’s wickets. In spite of this, Joe Root battled long and hard to ward off any threats from the Bangladesh spinners, something he was not too successful in doing.

Needless to say, Joe Root lost his wicket soon after scoring a well-made 56. Although he thought long and hard about going ahead with the DRS, an angry looking Joe Root eventually made his way back to the haven of the dressing room.

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The wickets began to tumble as the Brits looked all at sea against the off-spin of 19-year old Mehedi Hasan. Shakib-al-Hasan, an experienced offie in his own right was also making life miserable for the visitors. Ben Stokes, Jony Bairstow, and Zafar Ansari were the ones to follow suit as Bairstow was the only one who looked rather secure in the batting crease.

At 144/8, the writing seemed to be on the wall as far as England was concerned. They seemed to have their tail up in the spin that everyone though they did. Until of course, Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes made their ways out to the middle to have a bat.

They successfully fended away a few of the bowlers before stepping up the attack to go in for the kill. They smashed 46 and 44 respectively in an impressive 99-run partnership as they scampered home to some safety scores.

Bangladesh came out to bat later in the day and exhibited some impressive strokeplay and aggression as they did. Tamim Iqbal was well and truly in his element while Imrul Kayes helped himself to a half-century. Mahmudullah also batted with great responsibility before being cleaned out by Moeen Ali at the end of the day’s play.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh, 1st innings: 220 all out

England, 1st innings, 1st innings: 244 all out (J Root 56; M Hasan 6/82)

Bangladesh, 2nd innings: 152/3 (I Kayes 59*; Z Ansari 2/33)

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