ADIL & CHRIS SAVE THE DAY

from CHRIS STOCKS in Dhaka be out of this game had it not been for a crucial 99-run stand between Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid that gave their side an unexpected 24-run first-innings lead. With England wobbling on 144-8, still 76 runs behind, they bailed out their misfiring batsmen by putting on the highest ninth-wicket stand for England in Asia to help post a total of 244. Bangladesh, though, were in no mood to let England walk all over them, with openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes setting about the visiting bowling attack from the very start of their second innings to race to 50 in 56 balls. However, debutant left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari kept England in the hunt by removing both Tamim, snaffled at leg slip, and Mahmudullah, bowled attempting a kamikaze sweep with the final ball. In between, Ben Stokes, England’s man-of-the-match in Chittagong, had Mominul Haque caught by Cook at slip. However, it will take a collapse similar from the hosts similar to their first innings implosion, when they lost their final nine wickets for 49 runs, to make England favourites. “Getting a lead was crucial,” said Woakes, who made 46. “From looking like we were going to be behind to getting ahead of them was important. “I’d like to think we can chase 250. We need guys at the top of the order and in the middle order to put partnerships together and put pressure on.” Woakes was also the recipient of some good fortune on 38 when he hit a full toss from spinner Sabbir Rahman straight to midwicket only to be reprieved when the delivery was struck off as a no-ball because it was above waist height. The Warwickshire seamer, whose let-off came when England’s lead was just eight, said: “I was walking off.” Woakes (left) and Rashid’s partnership was the highest of England’s innings, with Joe Root, who made 56, the only contribution from the frontline batsmen. While that is a worry, so is the bowling of Rashid, the leg-spinner so far ineffective on a surface where the home spinners have made hay.