Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza (44 from 29 and 4/29) led from the front to help the hosts level the three-match One-Day International series 1-1 against England, whose batsmen looked all at sea on a difficult wicket in Mirpur on Sunday.
Mahmudullah's fighting knock of 75 and Mortaza's fireworks in the death overs took Bangladesh to a respectable 238/8 after being asked to bat first. Mortaza then rocked the English top order and a late surge was not enough to take the tourists to victory. England were eventually bowled out for 204, losing the second ODI by 34 runs.
Bangladesh were struggling at 113/5 with Chris Woakes, Jake Ball and Adil Rashid getting rid of the top order cheaply. Just like the group game in the 2015 World Cup between the two teams, which Bangladesh won, Mahmudullah was influential in weathering the storm. Handy lower-order contributions from Mosaddek Hossain, Nasir Hossain and the belligerent Mortaza took the Bangladeshis to a fighting total on a slow wicket, which also displayed uneven bounce at times.
At 25/4, England had a mountain to climb after their top order fell prey to Mortaza's cutters. Jos Buttler (57) and Jonny Bairstow (35) built a crucial 79-run fifth-wicket stand. However, a triple-strike in the space of 17 balls through the instrumental Taskin Ahmed tilted the match firmly in Bangladesh's favour. Buttler's dismissal witnessed some ugly scenes with the Bangladesh players giving the England skipper a rather forceful sending off.
There were some worried looks on the faces of some of the home fans during Rashid and Ball's battling 45-run last-wicket stand. Quite fittingly, Mortaza came back to pick up the final wicket. The series decider will be played in Chittagong on 12th October.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 238/8 in 50 overs (Mahmudullah 75, Mashrafe Mortaza 44; Chris Woakes 2/40, Jake Ball 2/44) beat England 204 in 44.4 overs (Jos Buttler 57, Jonny Bairstow 35; Mashrafe Mortaza 4/29, Taskin Ahmed 3/47) by 34 runs.