CHRIS WOAKES believes the second Test is finely poised despite Bangladesh ending day two with a flourish as England toiled in the field in Dhaka.

Woakes and Adil Rashid shared a 99-run stand for the ninth wicket to guide England to a slender first-innings lead but that was quickly wiped out following a flying start from Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes.

While debutant Zafar Ansari took his first two Test wickets, including cleaning up Mahmudullah off the last ball of the day, the hosts have a lead of 128 after closing on 152 for three, with Imrul still there on 59 not out.

On a difficult batting surface where Bangladesh's spinners – particularly teenager Mehedi Hasan – have thrived, any fourth-innings target they set England from here on in could prove tricky.

Their task has been made that bit harder by Joe Root struggling with a stomach upset. Not only is he the middle order linchpin but the Yorkshireman is also the designated shiner of the ball, potentially allowing England's seamers to extract reverse swing later in the innings, and he is a doubt to feature either in the field or with the bat today.

But Woakes remains optimistic the tourists can wrap up a 2-0 series win, after triumphing by 22 runs in Chittagong, if they can restrict a chase to around 250, having been all out for 244 first time around.

He said: "Getting a lead was quite crucial, the partnership between me and Rash was pleasing to get us from looking like we were going to be behind to getting ahead of them. It would have been nice to have got a couple more wickets and maybe for less runs, but it is what it is and that wicket at the end probably gives us a little bit of confidence going into (day three). But I think it's evenly balanced, it's an exciting Test match.

"I'd like to think we can chase 250. We got 240 in the first innings with myself and Rash putting on quite a big partnership. You don't want to be chasing more than 250 on that wicket. That's still the highest score in the game. Any game when you are chasing the highest score in the game, that's quite tricky to do. If you can keep it below that, it would be nice."

Woakes and Rashid dug England out of a hole after their increasingly fragile top order wilted at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, where they slipped to 69 for five and 144 for eight.

Root top-scored with 56 before returning to the team hotel separately following his illness, while Woakes (46) and Rashid (44no), who have 19 first-class centuries between them, slowly accumulated to help England overhaul Bangladesh's 220 all out.

The pair took advantage of a softening ball and a fatiguing Bangladesh attack although their alliance ended almost immediately after the Tigers took the new cherry, with Mehedi finishing as pick of the bowlers with six for 82 in just his second Test.

Woakes thought England's parlous position dictated the way he and Rashid had to play.

"We didn't really have much choice," he said. "I think when you're in that situation if you try and play a slog sweep across the line and it goes straight up, you look a bit silly.

"We had to try to build a bit of pressure and we felt that if we soaked up that pressure then when we'd faced more balls, we could be a bit more expansive and play a few more shots. But it's definitely easier as the ball gets older."

Mehedi, who turned 19 earlier this week, was celebrating his second six-wicket haul in only three innings as a Test bowler.

He said: "I never think about five or six wickets, I always try to perform averagely, but by the grace it happened well. To take five-wicket hauls twice, it feels good."