Sakib al Hasan took two late wickets to complete his 15th five-wicket haul but they could not stop England from taking the control in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong on Saturday. Ben Stokes hit 85 runs in the second innings to steer England to 228-8 at stumps on the third day after his three-wicket burst earlier in the morning helped them dismiss Bangladesh for 248 runs. The visitors now lead Bangladesh by 273 runs, which could be handy on a pitch that offered spinners plenty of turn, making life difficult for the batsmen from both sides. Stokes appeared as one exception with his counterattacking innings, which came off 151 balls with six fours and three sixes. Jonny Bairstow gave him good company as they duo shared 127 for sixth wicket to bail out England from a precarious 62-5 in the second innings. Baristow missed out on a very deserving half-century, leaving the pitch for 47 after he was played on by Kamrul Islam, the bowler’s maiden Test wicket and only wicket so far taken by a Bangladeshi seamer in the match. Sakib, who finished the day with 5-79, soon trapped Stokes in front to end highly impressive innings before he completed his five-wicket haul with the wicket of Adil Rashid. Chris Woakes (11 not out) and Stuart Broad (10 not out) remained at the crease overnight hoping to extend England’s advantage before they set fourth innings target for Bangladesh. Spinners led Bangladesh’s fight back before the lunch break leaving England at 28-3 after the visitors took 45 runs lead in the first innings. England’s hopes of building lead were dealt a blow when debutant spinner Mehedi Hasan induced an edge from captain Alastair Cook to send back him for 12. Sakib trapped Joe Root lbw for one in the next over to take his 150th Test wicket before he had Ben Duckett caught by Mominul Haque at forward short leg for 15. Gary Ballance fell to Taijul Islam for nine after the break before Sakib grabbed his third wicket by dismissing Moeen Ali for 14. It was a comeback for the Bangladesh all-rounder, who put his team in trouble by throwing his wicket off the second ball of the morning. Resuming on 221-5, Bangladesh were hoping Sakib, who was unbeaten on 31 overnight, would take them close to England’s first innings total. But he went down the wicket before the dust had settled and paid the price as Bairstow completed a simple stumping. Rashid removed nightwatchman Shafiul Islam for two as Stuart Broad took the catch high on his head at midwicket. Stokes, who finished with 4-26, had Mehedi lbw for one in the next over before a low catch at slip by Cook ended Sabbir Rahman’s effort at 19. He bowled third debutant Kamrul in the same over to wrap up Bangladesh’s innings as the hosts added just 27 runs to their overnight score for the loss of five wickets in 12 overs. Source: New Age
