The fall three New Zealand wickets in the last hour of the first day in the Chittagong Test has allowed Bangladesh to seize the initiative, believes star middle order batsman Nasir Hossain, after the newly laid wicket at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) proved to be too placid for the bowlers to make much impact for most of the day.
After winning the toss, New Zealand chose to bat and played patiently on a slow, low track, as the Bangladesh bowlers toiled to little effect on an unresponsive pitch. It was not till the end of the day the Tigers struck and the Kiwis finished the day with 280/5.
“We didn’t start smoothly with the ball but I think we came back in the game after picking up the three wickets in the last hour of the day. I believe we (Bangladesh) still are in the game and in a strong position,” Nasir told the media yesterday.
When queried if the wicket is behaving the way expected, Nasir said, “We thought that the ball would turn more. It didn’t turn until the last half hour in the evening. Hopefully, it’ll turn a bit more tomorrow morning.”
With the regular bowlers being unthreatening, captain Mushifqur Rahim gambled by throwing the ball to Nasir. The move proved fruitful as the bowler scalped Peter Fulton with his second ball.
“It was a very bad delivery, to be honest. I thought it would get hammered for a boundary the moment I delivered it but it got me, and the side wicket,” revealed Nasir.
Nasir assessed what might happen on the second day, “They want to score 400 runs and we plan to not allow that, but to be honest, we don’t want to think too much about how many runs they score. The only thing we have in mind is how quick we can get them all out.”
