Cricket:Poor catching threatened to undermine England's hopes of victory in the second Test against Bangladesh before a stroke of luck gave them a third wicket on the fourth afternoon.
England added 56 for their final two wickets in the morning to close at 496 all out — a lead of 77.
But Tigers dangerman Tamim Iqbal was spilled three times, one a genuine howler from Jonathan Trott, and a handful of other half chances went begging before Junaid Siddique was caught and bowled via a ricochet off silly point’s boot. At tea, the hosts were 115 with seven wickets in hand, 38 ahead.
Tim Bresnan resumed on 74 in his second Test innings and nudged his way to 91 before he was stumped skipping down the track to Abdur Razzak. James Tredwell clearly viewed Steven Finn’s arrival as a chance to open his arms and launched Shakib Al Hasan for successive fours into the on-side.
Tredwell fell for 37 in identical fashion to Bresnan, by which point England’s lead was a workable one. Many batsmen would have been looking to merely survive the awkward pre-lunch period that followed, but Tamim has showed a fearless streak since the start of the series.
Tamim produced a devastating 85 in the first session of the match and was soon looking to pepper the boundary once again. By contrast, Imrul Kayes has saw his stock plummet over the course of the series, a trend which continued when he was bowled by Stuart Broad off the thigh pad for four.
England needed more wickets and Tredwell could have had Tamim on 15 and 26. Matt Prior grassed the first, a tough chance behind the stumps, and Tredwell himself shelled a firm return catch after lunch.
Graeme Swann was not introduced until the 21st over having spent some time off the field and had a big lbw appeal turned down off his first ball. Tredwell was continuing to cause problems, coaxing Tamim to edge past slip before seeing Trott drop the simplest of catches at point to give the opener yet another life.
Tamim and Junaid took advantage of the slump in the field to take the hosts into the lead, with the former bringing up a most fortunate half-century soon after. He eventually departed for 52, Broad finally holding a catch to open Swann’s account.
Debutant Jahurul Islam, who bagged a duck in the first innings, got off the mark in Test cricket with a maximum off Swann and then lofted Tredwell for six more. Jahurul was living dangerously, though, offering a hard, low caught and bowled chance to Swann and then snicking between keeper and slip for four.
After series of plays and misses, inside edges and aerial shots without success it took a stroke of fortune to hand England a third wicket. Junaid (34) was the man to go, caught and bowled by Tredwell after the the ball looped back to the bowler off Alastair Cook’s boot at silly point.
Shakib Al Hasan survived a similar appeal in the first innings when the TV umpire was unsure if the ball had hit the ground first, but this time the decision was clear.