Pakistan close in on victory

20/12/2011

England's next Test match opponents Pakistan are closing in on a 2-0 series win in Bangladesh with a day remaining of the second Test in Mirpur.

Replying to the home side's first innings of 338,the tourists moved on from their overnight score of 292-3 to 470 all out, a lead of 132.

Misbah-ul-Haq (70) and Adnan Akmal (53) helped build the healthy lead, despite six wickets for Shakib Al Hasan.

And by the close, the home side were struggling on 114-5, still 18 run shy of making the tourists bat again.

Fans enjoying corporate hospitality when England play the West Indies at Lord's in the first Test of next summer will hope England are still ranked the best Test team in the world by then and to achieve this they will have to hold off any Pakistani revival of fortunes in their upcoming series in the UAE.

However, as the leading Test side England will offer a far tougher test than Bangladesh, who are ninth out of nine in the official rankings.

England's other winter opponents - Sri Lanka - lost by an innings this week in the first Test of their current series in South Africa.

By Liz Johnstone