Bangladesh's tail ensures England are made to toil

Bangladesh registered the third-highest total in their history before removing three of England's top order to leave the second Test delicately poised after two days.

Bangladesh resumed on 330-8 but, with the tail exposed, the tourists' hopes of a swift clean-up job were shattered as the hosts raced along to 419 all out in the morning session.

It was just the seventh time in a decade of Test cricket that the Tigers had breached 400 and provided a solid platform for the bowlers, who had England 171-3 at stumps, 248 runs behind.

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Captain Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood fell either side of Kevin Pietersen, who surrendered his wicket moments after becoming the quickest batsman to 5,000 Test runs, in days if not number of innings.

Makeshift opener Jonathan Trott dropped anchor to reach 64 not out at the close with Ian Bell unbeaten on 25.

Tigers' No 10 Shafiul Islam began proceedings eager to wave the bat at anything short or wide.

He might have been out on at least two occasions had Cook opted for an extra man in the slip cordon but Shafiul helped himself to a series of boundaries to the vacant third man position.

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With a top score of 13 in his previous six Test innings, England must have expected his luck to run out but instead the tail-ender grew in confidence, twice driving Graeme Swann expertly through the covers.

He narrowly avoided being caught at mid-on and mid-off as he overtook his partner Naeem Islam, who had a 25-run advantage at the start of play.

Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan eventually dismissed him for 53 in 51 balls, but Naeem (59no) held firm and Rubel Hossain (17) made a mockery of a Test average of just over two to increase England's frustrations.

By the time Swann had Rubel caught behind for a fourth success of the innings, the last two wickets had added 105.

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England, with their rookie captain at the crease opposite first-time opener Trott, faced a token over of Shafiul with the new ball before the spin attack began in earnest.

Cook was soon off the mark, with boundaries either side of lunch getting him started. Trott, though, struggled to come out of his shell, taking 33 deliveries to get off the mark. Cook looked in control for his 21 before slog-sweeping Abdur Razzak straight into the hands of Imrul Kayes, who was posted at deep mid-wicket for the shot.

Pietersen was next in, batting for the first time at No 3, and got off the mark with a risky single.

Shakib Al Hasan soon put himself on in tandem with Razzak, a clear attempt to probe Pietersen's recent struggles against left-arm spin.

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The 29-year-old survived one animated bat-pad appeal while still on one, though replays confirmed there had been no inside edge.

The second-wicket pair battled hard for the remainder of the afternoon session, with Trott studied in defence and Pietersen high on resolve but low on inspiration.

Like England before them, Bangladesh's bowlers found little assistance from the pitch, although they did a noticeably better job of restricting boundaries.

Pietersen nudged a single off his pads to reach 45, becoming the fourth youngest England player to score 5,000 runs behind David Gower, Michael Atherton and Marcus Trescothick.

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But that was to be his last scoring shot before he fell once again to a slow left-armer.

It was a curious dismissal, Pietersen going down the track to a long hop from Shakib and somehow spooning a catch to Imrul off the leading edge.

Collingwood followed for a three-ball duck, lbw to Rubel as the old ball started to reverse swing.

With England 107-3, still 312 behind, Bangladesh had all the momentum.

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But new batsman Bell started positively, using his feet well to hit down the ground off the spinners.

Trott's grind of an innings received a much-needed fillip when Razzak served up a trio of boundary balls in the 52nd over and the Warwickshire batsman passed 50 with a single from his 147th delivery.

Pietersen admitted that England's position was not ideal but believes a mixture of concentration and favourable batting conditions can still see them right.

"We've got some hard work to do (today). I wouldn't say we're evens (in the match)," said Pietersen.

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"Bangladesh showed a lot of fight and courage and batted really well to get 419.

"We are a batsman down on the last Test so we have definitely got a fight on our hands."

England boast a 100 per cent record over the Tigers in all cricket and a draw against the minnows of the Test world would be viewed almost as badly as a defeat in some quarters.

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