Stokes gives England the advantage

After two days of each team trying to gain the upper hand, a stellar all-round display from Ben Stokes put England at a potentially decisive advantage on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.

Stokes wrapped up the second innings by taking three of the five Bangladeshi wickets to fall in the morning for the addition of just 27 runs to their overnight score of 221 for five, thereby producing a crucial lead of 45 runs for England. He then scored a match-turning 85 that led England to a lead of 273 runs in their second innings at the end of the day with two wickets in hand.

Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also played a crucial hand, picking up five wickets for 79 runs to still keep home side's hopes alive, but his accomplishment was marred by an atrocious shot in the second ball of the morning when he was the lone experienced batsman capable of taking the team past England's lead.

On a day that saw 13 wickets fall, debutant pacer Kamrul Islam Rabbi opened the door for a sliver of hope in the third session by bowling Jonny Bairstow for 47 and putting an end to a 127-run sixth wicket partnership with Stokes which rescued England from 62 for five. Shakib, who already had three wickets in the first two sessions, then trapped Stokes plumb in front in the 65th over for a 151-ball 85 featuring six boundaries and three sixes. In the 69th over, Adil Rashid played with bat close to pad against a Shakib delivery headed for the stumps, and Bangladesh reviewed after the umpire judged it not out. The replay showed that the ball hit pad first and Shakib, who earlier went past 150 Test wickets, had his 15th five-wicket haul.

Earlier, seven overs into the second session which England started on 28 for three, Gary Ballance swept a ball from Taijul that ran off the face straight into Imrul Kayes's lap at leg gully to be fourth out with the score on 46. Then Ali went for the sweep with the score on 62, but the ball came off his gloves and was about to land down the leg side behind the wicket, but an alert Mushfiqur Rahim completed a diving take to have Ali out for 14.

But then Ben Stokes, as he did with the ball earlier in the morning, came forward with his uncomplicated brand of cricket to take the game away from Bangladesh. He was careful not to commit to the front or back foot early and picked the ball off the pitch, to a large extent negating the effects of guessing which way the ball would turn. With the new ball losing its hardness, it was no longer zipping off the pitch, allowing Bairstow and Stokes to put on the most crucial partnership of the match.

The morning session, when Bangladesh resumed on 221 for five, began with Shakib playing perhaps the most irresponsible shot of his career. The down-the-wicket heave in the second ball off Ali resulted in a stumping that set off a collapse of five wickets for 27 runs and a crucial 45-run first innings deficit.

Debutant Sabbir Rahman scored 19 of those runs but when he was ninth out, caught at first slip by Cook off Stokes -- who in the 82nd over trapped Mehedi Hasan Miraz leg-before -- in the 86th over with the score on 248, a first-innings lead for England became a formality. Last batsman Kamrul Islam Rabbi shouldered arms to a reverse swinging delivery and was bowled, giving Stokes figures of four for 26, quite an achievement for a pacer on a spinner's pitch.

Bangladesh however struck back quickly in England's second innings with Miraz and Shakib opening the bowling. Cook and Ben Duckett made it to 26 without loss, but England then lost three wickets for two runs in four overs before lunch. Miraz landed one on a perfect length which took the edge off Cook's forward defence for Riyad to take a good, low catch at slip. In the next over Shakib had Joe Root, who was looking for the sweep, leg-before and bagged his 150th wicket. He continued to try to make amends for his early morning indiscretion by having Ben Duckett caught off the bat and pad at short leg to signal lunch after a session that saw eight wickets fall.