Publish : 04 Dec 2021, 05:01 PMUpdate : 29 Dec 2021, 05:01 PM
The first day of the second and final Test of the series between hosts Bangladesh and Pakistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Saturday encountered gloomy weather, an effect of the cyclonic storm Jawad over the west-central Bay of Bengal.
The third session of the day got abandoned due to bad light and the game earlier was briefly interrupted with rain.
On-field umpire Sharfouddola flicked the bails off after the third inspection to indicate close of play on day one.
This had broken up the game which was looking to get settled with a brief spell from the Bangladesh spinners putting Pakistan in trouble.
Pakistan choosing to bat first were thankful to two partnerships between Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique of 59 for the first wicket and then another one of unbroken 91 between Azhar Ali and Babar Azam for the third wicket.
Bangladesh on the day could pick up only two wickets while Pakistan posted 161 runs in 57 overs of play.
There are discussions going around as to why Bangladesh pacers Ebadat Hossain and Khaled Ahmed were not able to make the best use of the weather early in the game.
Off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz while speaking to the media at the end of the day admitted the matter and emphasized on the importance of having a bowling partnership.
In the first session, left-arm spinners Taijul Islam and Shakib al Hasan created pressure from both ends and this resulted in Taijul bagging two wickets.
“It is important to take early wickets in Test cricket and if there is no fall of wicket then you need to check the runs. We were not being able to take early wickets. In the first session, we were bowling wicket taking deliveries, we were in a good position but not ahead of them. It would have been better for us if we had taken a few more wickets in the second session. We could have taken at least two wickets more if we had utilized the best of the weather condition," said Miraz.
"At the end of the day, their batters batted well, they were in an attacking mode and managed the good deliveries well. I think a lot of the game is left, we played only two sessions in the first day. We still have four days left so there are a lot of scenarios to come.
“Taijul bhai got us a very good start. He was in a good shape even in the last Test took the most wickets for us. Partnership is important in Test cricket. If the pacers could have managed to put pressure from both ends then it would have been a different game for us. The two wickets we got was because Taijul bhai and Shakib bhai both had created pressure from two ends. We missed creating pressure in the second session for which they were able to dominate us."
The play on day two will start 30 minutes early with the aim of 98 overs to be bowled.
Miraz informed that the focus of the team is on bowling – to contain the runs and get 10 wickets in the first innings as quickly as possible.
“Both the departments [batting and bowling] have to do well for a team to win a Test match. In the end of the day you have to score both runs and take 20 wickets. I think the job will be easy for us if the bowlers can hold on to their performance and check the runs and the batters can score. Right now we are bowling so our focus should be on that. We first need to take the 10 wickets and following that the batters can go to the middle with a good plan,” said Miraz.
Miraz: Pacers couldn't utilize gloomy weather
The first day of the second and final Test of the series between hosts Bangladesh and Pakistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Saturday encountered gloomy weather, an effect of the cyclonic storm Jawad over the west-central Bay of Bengal.
The third session of the day got abandoned due to bad light and the game earlier was briefly interrupted with rain.
On-field umpire Sharfouddola flicked the bails off after the third inspection to indicate close of play on day one.
This had broken up the game which was looking to get settled with a brief spell from the Bangladesh spinners putting Pakistan in trouble.
Pakistan choosing to bat first were thankful to two partnerships between Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique of 59 for the first wicket and then another one of unbroken 91 between Azhar Ali and Babar Azam for the third wicket.
Bangladesh on the day could pick up only two wickets while Pakistan posted 161 runs in 57 overs of play.
There are discussions going around as to why Bangladesh pacers Ebadat Hossain and Khaled Ahmed were not able to make the best use of the weather early in the game.
Off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz while speaking to the media at the end of the day admitted the matter and emphasized on the importance of having a bowling partnership.
In the first session, left-arm spinners Taijul Islam and Shakib al Hasan created pressure from both ends and this resulted in Taijul bagging two wickets.
“It is important to take early wickets in Test cricket and if there is no fall of wicket then you need to check the runs. We were not being able to take early wickets. In the first session, we were bowling wicket taking deliveries, we were in a good position but not ahead of them. It would have been better for us if we had taken a few more wickets in the second session. We could have taken at least two wickets more if we had utilized the best of the weather condition," said Miraz.
"At the end of the day, their batters batted well, they were in an attacking mode and managed the good deliveries well. I think a lot of the game is left, we played only two sessions in the first day. We still have four days left so there are a lot of scenarios to come.
“Taijul bhai got us a very good start. He was in a good shape even in the last Test took the most wickets for us. Partnership is important in Test cricket. If the pacers could have managed to put pressure from both ends then it would have been a different game for us. The two wickets we got was because Taijul bhai and Shakib bhai both had created pressure from two ends. We missed creating pressure in the second session for which they were able to dominate us."
The play on day two will start 30 minutes early with the aim of 98 overs to be bowled.
Miraz informed that the focus of the team is on bowling – to contain the runs and get 10 wickets in the first innings as quickly as possible.
“Both the departments [batting and bowling] have to do well for a team to win a Test match. In the end of the day you have to score both runs and take 20 wickets. I think the job will be easy for us if the bowlers can hold on to their performance and check the runs and the batters can score. Right now we are bowling so our focus should be on that. We first need to take the 10 wickets and following that the batters can go to the middle with a good plan,” said Miraz.
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