Bangladesh came within a whisker of causing a major boilover in the first Test and will be looking to go the next step against England when the teams meet in Dhaka for the second and final match of this series. Join The Roar for live scores of Day 1 from 3pm (AEDT).
The Tigers earnt the respect of the cricketing world during the first Test in Chittagong, despite going down by 22 runs during a desperate run chase.
On a pitch that was doing plenty and helping the spinners, Bangladesh were able to run through England with debutant Mehedi Hasan picking up six wickets in the first innings and veteran Shakib Al Hasan taking five in the second.
England had won the toss and elected to bat first, but their top order let them down badly in both innings, with only a strong effort from the middle order – Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow – keeping them in the match.
Stokes was the hero for England as he top scored with 85 in the second innings and took the final two wickets of the match.
Having reduced England to 293, the hosts replied with 248 which had the potential to be so much more after opener Tanim Iqbal made 78 but the lower order fell away as they lost 4 for 10.
England would make 240 in their second knock, setting a target of 286 that looked almost unreachable for the Tigers and even more so when Iqbal was removed for nine.
Most of their batsmen got starts though and they slowly edged closer to the target before Sabbir Rahman was joined at the crease by Mushfiqur Rahim with the pair putting on a crucial 87 runs for the sixth wicket.
Rahman would continue on and eventually finish not out on 64, with the tail pitching in around him to get Bangladesh so close, although his tactics batting with the tail were extremely questionable.
Prediction
As was the case heading into the first Test, it’s hard to go past the tourists; they are the far superior team.
That’s not to say the Tigers are without a chance or won’t put up a fight, though. As we saw in the first Test, they will fight all the way to the death and better tactics from Rahman could well have led them to what would have been an emphatic victory.
Given everything it’s reasonable to assume England took the Tigers a little lightly in the first match and will bring their A-game here.
On a turning pitch, though, England are far from comfortable in both the bowling and batting stocks, so the match in Dhaka certainly won’t be one-way traffic.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the first day’s play in this second Test between Bangladesh and England from 3pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to drop a comment below.
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