Mehedi finished with figures of 6-82 off 28 overs
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Mehedi Hasan starred with the ball once again as he took his second six-wicket haul in as many matches on the second day of the second Test in Mirpur.
Mehedi has taken 13 wickets in his first two Tests thus far and has already broken the record for the most dismissals by a Bangladesh bowler after two Tests, beating the 12 wickets Mahmudullah and Sohag Gazi both took in their first two matches.
The 19-year-old is also just the fourth spinner in Test history to take five-wicket hauls in each of their first two Tests, with the others being India’s Narendra Hirwani, Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett and England’s Nick Cook.
Starting off the day on 50/3, England continued to sink further as Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes were dismissed early on in the day by Mehedi and Taijul Islam respectively.
Joe Root and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow somewhat stemmed the bleeding with a 45-run partnership before Bairstow was trapped lbw off the bowling of Mehedi for 24.
Debutant Zafar Ansari could only make 13 runs before he was on his way back to the pavilion, while Root ended up making 56 off 122 balls, which included four boundaries.
Root scored his 23rd Test fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
With England reeling at 144/8, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid launched an impressive counterattack as they put together a 99-run stand, which is now the highest ninth-wicket partnership for England in Tests in Asia. The previous record was an 83-run stand between Keith Fletcher and Norman Gifford against India in Chennai back in 1973.
Bangladesh got the breakthrough they wanted when Mehedi removed Woakes for 46. England were bowled out shortly after for 244, which gave them a 24-run lead, when Steven Finn was caught behind off the bowling of Taijul for a duck.
Mehedi was easily the pick of the bowlers with six wickets, while Taijul took three and Shakib Al Hasan chipped in with one.
Trailing by 24 runs, Bangladesh got their second innings off to an excellent start as Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes amassed a 65-run partnership before Iqbal was caught by England captain Alastair Cook off the bowling of Ansari for 40.
Mominul Haque fell in the very next over to Stokes, but Bangladesh managed to recover from the double blow they were dealt as Kayes and Mahmudullah accumulated an 86-run partnership, during which Kayes brought up his fifty.
Just when Bangladesh seemed they would safely reach stumps, a lapse in concentration saw Mahmudullah throw his wicket away as he was clean bowled by Ansari for 47.
Stumps was called as soon as Mahmudullah was dismissed, leaving Kayes unbeaten on 59 off 81 deliveries, which included eight boundaries.
Kayes struck eight boundaries during his knock of 59 not out
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Ansari was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Stokes claimed one.
Bangladesh ended day two on 152/3 and will continue batting on Sunday at 10:00 local time or 04:00 GMT.