Lorcan Tucker consolidated his position as Ireland’s leading Test run scorer in Mirpur on Friday and, with help from Stephen Doheny and Jordan Neill, did enough to dissuade Bangladesh from enforcing the follow on in the second Test.

The Ireland wicketkeeper was unmoved during tremors from an earthquake that shook the ground mid-morning, and a rare failure from Andy McBrine, as his unbeaten 75 led the Boys in Green to a respectable 265 all out.

“At least we made more than England!” one of the dozen-or-so Irish fans quipped at lunchtime. 

While a first-innings lead of 211 was conceded when last man Matthew Humphreys lobbed an optimistic reverse sweep to backward point, the total was more than Ireland might have expected when resuming on 98-5.

And after sending down 88.3 overs — more than half of them on the third day — the home side opted to rest their bowlers and extend their lead to 367 by stumps, for the loss of one wicket.

A declaration can be expected around lunchtime today (SAT) and with the pitch wearing Bangladesh may still wrap up victory and a 2-0 series win with a day to spare but Tucker’s 170-ball resistance restored a dollop of pride to the away dressing room.

He clearly enjoys batting at the Sher-E-Bangla Stadium, having made his Test century here in 2023, and his fourth half-century took him to 696 runs from 17 innings in the format.

Doheny was positive and looked confident in the first hour, striking four boundaries and contributing 46 to a sixth-wicket partnership of 81 before he played inside a delivery from left-armer Taijul Islam and had his off-stump clipped.

McBrine was bowled two balls later by a beauty from Taijul that pitched wide and jagged back between bat and pad to strike the left-hander’s leg stump. The joyful celebrations from the home side showed how much they value the Tyrone man’s wicket.

The dismissals came a few minutes after an earthquake shook the stadium for a few seconds, registering 5.7 on the Richter scale.

Neill replaced McBrine and entertained either side of lunch by regularly exposing his stumps to hit the spinners through the off, a tactic that seemed destined to be short-lived, although it was an attempted pull off one of the quicks that was his undoing on 49.

The 20-year-old deserved his half-century, having been the main man in a partnership of 74 with Tucker, but there are sure to be more chances for the lively all-rounder.