DHAKA: Alastair Cook closed in on a half-century as England boosted their chances of winning the second and final Test against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

The skipper (46 not out) helped England reach 95-1 in their second innings at tea chasing a 209-run target. Kevin Pietersen was unbeaten with a brisk 24 at the break.

England now need 114 more runs in a minimum of 29 overs in the last session to sweep the series following their 181-run win in the opening Test in Chittagong.

Bangladesh, trailing by 77 runs, were bowled out for 285 in their second innings shortly after lunch, with skipper Shakib Al Hasan (96) missing out on a Test century on his 23rd birthday.

Scoreboard

Bangladeshi left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak shared the new ball with seamer Shafiul Islam, but England batted steadily to add 42 for the opening wicket in 13 overs before makeshift opener Jonathan Trott was run out for 19.

Cook, leading England for the first time in a Test series, and Pietersen gathered runs comfortably against both pace and spin to push their team closer to a win.

They have so far put on 53 for the unfinished second wicket.

Pietersen, once switch-hitting spinner Shakib for two runs, also smashed Razzak for a straight six.

Bangladesh earlier added 113 runs to their overnight total of 172-6, with Shakib doing the bulk of scoring.

The Bangladeshi captain looked set to complete his second Test hundred before being stumped off debutant off-spinner James Tredwell in the second over of the afternoon session. He cracked 11 fours in a 191-ball knock.

Tredwell, sharing the second new ball with paceman Stuart Broad, was the most impressive bowler as he grabbed three of the four Bangladeshi wickets that fell in the day.

He struck in his first over with the new ball when he had nightwatchman Shafiul Islam caught by Trott at deep mid-wicket and then dismissed Naeem Islam for three runs.

Shafiul, who scored a half-century in the first innings, made 28 in a 63-run stand for the seventh wicket with his captain.