Don't want to chase over 250: Woakes
England pacer Chris Woakes was part of a 99-run ninth-wicket partnership that saved the visitors from conceding a huge lead to Bangladesh and effectively kept them in the game.
His patient 46, combined with Adil Rashid's unbeaten 44, helped them take the lead and put the pressure back on the hosts. However, that advantage was thwarted after Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes came out all guns blazing after the exchange. The pressure was back on England.
Bangladesh now lead by 128 runs and while they did lose Mahmudullah Riyad on the last ball of the second day yesterday, the hosts still feel that they have the advantage considering that England will have to play on a wicket which is deteriorating quickly.
Woakes hopes that that lead does not cross 250.
"It's a tricky pitch. You don't want to be chasing more than 250 on that wicket. That's still the highest score in the game. When you are chasing the highest score in any game, it's quite tricky and it would be nice if you can keep it below that.
"But if we can come in tomorrow and pick up early wickets and get into the Bangladeshi tail, we can knock them over hopefully," said Woakes.
Woakes belives that Mahmudullah's fall at the end will help the visitors gather momentum.
"It certainly puts us in a better position. It's always nice to pick a wicket on the final over of the day. [It] gives us a bit of a momentum for tomorrow [Sunday]. Fortunately for us we got that wicket and that's crucial for us," said Woakes.
With the way the Test has panned out, Woakes will hope that they can bowl Bangladesh out quickly and then survive the onslaught that the Bangladesh spinners bring with the new ball.
"It's a tricky pitch. It's spinning with the new ball. You get one straight and the other spits and turns and bounces. But as the ball gets older, the pitch tends to get slightly easier to bat on. It becomes a bit more consistent with the bounce.
"It's still spinning but it becomes more consistent. Generally it gets easier when the ball gets older," explained Woakes.
"Bangladesh have some really good spinners and they put us under pressure with the new ball. It's a tricky time to bat when one is skidding and the other is spinning. It's difficult to judge that.
"Tamim [Iqbal] has had a good series. He comes out and plays his shots and is aggressive and puts the pressure on the bowlers. Credit to the way he has played," he added.
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