Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Liton Das commended Ebadot Hossain for putting Bangladesh cricket team on the verge of a maiden Test win against hosts New Zealand.
Tourists Bangladesh finished day four of the first Test of the series at Mount Maunganui Tuesday with hands on the steering wheel.
Right-arm pacer Ebadot inspired Bangladesh to a promising situation with a spell of his lifetime on the third session of the day.
Ebadot found the ball to reverse and consistently hit the 140kph-mark to trouble the home team batters.
The 27-year old dismissed three New Zealand batters in the space of nine deliveries to leave them reeling from 136 for two to 136 for five.
The Kiwis at stumps had 147 on the board for the loss of five wickets and just a 17-run lead with the game going into the final day.
New Zealand now have all hopes pinned on the veteran Ross Taylor and Rachin Ravindra to lengthen the innings and push the game towards a draw.
“Ebadot was brilliant. Both his spells were excellent. I think bowling in the same channel on a regular basis helped him succeed. His breakthroughs boosted the morale of the team. We are not over-excited because we know that there are still five wickets left and we have to chase later on. We will try to limit the target as much as possible," said Liton to the media Tuesday.
Liton explaining the pitch condition when New Zealand went out to bat in the second innings said Ebadot had the edge of the ball skidding and keeping low.
“The ball was skidding and occasionally keeping low. So the plan for Ebadot was to bowl fast and into the wicket and hope that the variability of the pitch will bring leg-befores and bowleds into play. We were encouraging him to bowl faster. You must have heard (Nazmul Hossain) Shanto scream, "Faster, faster!" Because he got more help from the pitch if he bowled fast,” Liton informed.
Going into the final day with the rare possibility of winning a Test against the Kiwis, Liton said they would eye to restrict New Zealand to a small target but the job will not be easy.
“The pitch will not be easy to bat on [Wednesday]. The wicket is becoming difficult with time. We will try to wrap their innings up as early as possible going into the final day but to be honest it will be difficult for us to bat as well. Right now we are very calm. We are following a process. We have found success by following that and will continue to do so," Liton said.