Ace Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan believes the second Test between the hosts and the visiting Zimbabwe in Khulna’s Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium is heading towards a draw.
The former national skipper, now the vice-captain of the Bangladesh ODI side, said both the teams are evenly matched going into the fourth and penultimate day’s play today.
Replying to Bangladesh’s first innings tally of 433, Zimbabwe ended the third day’s play on 331 for the loss of five wickets, trailing the hosts by 102 runs.
“I do not think they are ahead of us. We won the first game and here so far we have both the teams at the same level. But cricket is an unpredictable game as things can change drastically within an hour or two. At this moment, however, I think we are heading towards a draw,” Shakib told the media yesterday.
The hosts were in the driving seat after posting 433 runs on the board in the first innings riding on centuries from Shakib and opener Tamim Iqbal. Missed opportunities in the field and indiscipline with the ball, however, saw Zimbabwe come back into the game with the third day wicket not really assisting Bangladesh’s arsenal of slow bowlers like it was expected to.
Despite the wicket losing its sharpness in the latter part of the third day, Shakib picked up three scalps. Instead of the pitch, the left-arm spinner blamed the Bangladesh bowlers for dismissing only four Zimbabwean batsmen throughout the day.
“We picked up three wickets in the second session which was really good but failed to maintain our momentum.”
Shakib also shed some light on his 137-run knock in the first innings.
“It is tough to score runs when you are back in the format after a long gap. It is not easy to score runs right away. I did not expect it myself that I will be able to score so many runs so early to be honest,” he said.
