Failure in the first innings of the game has put Bangladesh behind, said the side’s top order batsman Najmul Hossain Shanto after the end of day four of the ongoing second Test against hosts Sri Lanka at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
At the end of day four of the series deciding game, hosts Sri Lanka were five wickets away from victory while Bangladesh needed 260 more runs chasing 437 runs.
Sri Lanka bowlers Praveen Jayawickrama and Ramesh Mendis troubled the Bangladesh batsmen mostly during the chase as the two bowlers shared five wickets between themselves on a wicket that was aiding the spinners. Earlier on the day, Sri Lanka declared their second innings on 194 having set a difficult target for the tourists. If Bangladesh win this match it will be the highest successful chase in the fourth innings of Test cricket history.
With Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the middle, Bangladesh are down to their last recognized batting pair needing another 260 runs for a win.
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“We should have batted better in the first innings. We fall behind the Sri Lankans at that point. We had scored something around 200 runs for the loss of three wickets, but we couldn’t form a partnership which has cost us big time,’’ said Najmul to the media on Sunday.
“The wicket insisted the batsmen to be positive, as it would have been harder if the batsmen stayed negative towards playing shots. All our batsmen had the positive intent, but being positive doesn’t mean they were trying to hit every delivery for a boundary,’’ the left-handed batsman added.
Discussion is rife whether Bangladesh spinners failed to make best use of the condition in restricting Sri Lanka early. Najmul however argued to the thought and enphasised that the Bangladesh bowlers had to do the job the condition were not as friendly as it is now.
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Winning the toss Sri Lanka went to bat first and on what looked like a batting track early in the game the home side declared on 493 runs in the first innings losing seven wickets. In the second innings the host team declared on 194 for nine in the early in the day four as Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam secured his eight five-for in a Test innings.
“Taijul (Islam) bhai earned a fifer today (Sunday), so I wouldn’t say that our spinners haven’t performed, as in my estimation, they were quite good,’’ said Najmul.
“Our bowlers had performed better than theirs as our bowlers had to bowl in the first and the second day, when there were no spin on the wicket. Their (Sri Lanka) spinners on the other hand, bowled in the third and the fourth day, when the wicket was spin heavy, so they had got an upper hand,’’ the Bangladesh batsman added.