England Stumble to Small Lead in Dhaka

Having begun the day 92 runs adrift of Bangladesh's total of 203, England were undone by the novice Test nations unheard of spinners.

Only Marcus Trescothick, who hit a fine 113, and Graham Thorpe, who battled hard for his 64, dealt comfortably with Mohammad Rafique and debutant Enamul Haque Junior.

The pair claimed two wickets apiece as the tourists hoped to improve on a record of one draw in 24 Test matches.

England struggled from the moment Michael Vaughan failed to claim his first Test half-century since becoming captain last summer. Attempting to sweep Rafique, Vaughan failed to control the shot as he would have liked and was bowled by the left-arm spinner's sixth delivery of the day for 48.

Mark Butcher fell six balls later when he was given leg before to an inswinging delivery from Mushfiqur Rahman before the same bowler accounted for Nasser Hussain, who drove wildly and edged behind for a duck.

Trescothick, who had resumed on 77, could have joined the collapse, but was fortunate to be firstly dropped at slip when he had reached 88 and was then given the benefit of the doubt on 94 when Rafique appeared to have a good case for leg before.

Those two reprieves, though, spurred on Trescothick and he brought up his century with the second of three sixes in his innings, which also included 16 other boundaries, only to fall eight overs later for 113 when he mis-timed a sweep straight to square leg.

His demise brought Thorpe together with Surrey team-mate Rikki Clarke, and the pair added a crucial 49 runs to guide England into a welcome lead.

But just as the tourists seemed to have conquered the threat posed by Bangladesh's spinners, Clarke made a fatal misjudgement and shouldered arms to a full-length delivery from Rafique which spun onto this stumps.

Wicketkeeper Chris Read followed in the next over when he edged Enamul behind.

Just as tea approached, Bangladesh took the new ball and Mashrafe Mortaza ended a stubborn 41-run partnership between Thorpe and Gareth Batty by dismissing both batsmen in successive overs.

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