Bangladesh v England: Chris Woakes remains optimistic after late wicket

Chris Woakes insists that England remain confident of victory in the second Test against Bangladesh following Zafar Ansari's wicket late on day two.

A critical 99-run partnership between Woakes and Adil Rashid for England's ninth wicket had earned the tourists a first innings lead of 24, only for Bangladesh to make a blistering start to their second innings, reaching 152-2 with stumps imminent.

However, Mahmudullah's wildly misjudged attempted sweep in what proved to be the final over of the day gave England a much-needed late boost.

"It was [an interesting shot], I wouldn't have liked to be walking back into the dressing room having played that shot in the last over of the day," Woakes told Sky Sports. "But it is what is; a big wicket for us and for Zafar on debut, we're really pleased with the way he's bowled, in the second innings in particular.

"It lifts us in the dressing room going into tomorrow. We know we can knock these boys over, particularly if we get them four, five, six down, we can get into their tail quickly and they can fold. Fingers crossed that is what we can do in the morning."

The hosts have already built up a lead of 128, but it could have been far greater given that England were struggling at 144-8 when Rashid joined Woakes at the crease during the morning session.

The pair showed great resolve and were rewarded as batting conditions improved against the older ball, enabling them to take England beyond Bangladesh's first innings total.

"It was a huge lift," Woakes added. "When we came together, a lead wasn't looking possible at all so to get ourselves in and get a lead was great.

"Then it was annoying that I got out because I felt we could probably have got 20 or 25 more, and those runs feel like double. So that was frustrating but it was a great partnership and it put us ahead which was the main thing.

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"Going into that position when we're still plenty behind, it's nice to put on a really important partnership, particularly towards the end when you've only got a couple of wickets left.

"They probably thought the job was done and it was nice to put on that partnership and put us ahead of them, just slightly.

"The longer you spend at the crease in these conditions, the easier it gets. We knew the ball was only going to get older and generally that's when it gets easier to bat as well, the pitch becomes a bit more consistent when the ball is a bit older.

"So that was the plan, just try to get in, tick over, take the ones and then they try something different and you put the boundary balls away."

Woakes admitted that England were frustrated by the rate at which they allowed Bangladesh to score their runs but feels that a chase of around 250 would not be beyond Alastair Cook's side.

"We got 240 in the first innings and so I think if we can get partnerships at the top of the order and through the middle then I feel we can chase anything we've scored already, so 250 maybe?" Woakes said. "It's an important morning for us tomorrow."

Watch extended highlights of today's play on Sky Sports 2 at 5.30pm, followed by The Verdict on the same channel at 6.30pm. Our live coverage of day three begins at 3.45am on Sunday once the clocks have returned to GMT time.