First innings lead gave us an edge: Shakib
||CF Correspondent||
Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan said on Saturday that they were confident about their chances in the opening Test against West Indies as their first innings 76-run lead gave them an edge over their opponents.
Bangladesh won the opening Test by 64 runs to lead by 1-0 in the two-match Test series.
Bangladesh can largely thank Mominul Haque, who scored his eighth Test century, as it was due to his batting that the hosts posted a total over 300 runs on the opening day of the series-opener.
The second and third day saw the fall of 32 wickets as the wicket seemed to help the slow bowlers extract something from it.
Bangladesh were all-out for a petty 125-run total in the second innings, but did not allow West Indies to score more than 139 runs in return.
“I think there is no need to worry about our batting [in the second innings] although I think we could’ve done better in the second innings, but these things happen on such wickets and we were aware of it,” Shakib told reporters after the opening Test match.
“In this kind of wicket, a team can collapse in one innings and we were prepared for it. We know it can happen but what’s important was to make sure we don’t fail in the first innings [with the bat].
“There were small partnerships that helped us. Our total in the first innings was the biggest advantage we had because we knew it would not be high-scoring game once we saw the wicket on the first day.
“We couldn’t turn around against Zimbabwe after failing in the first innings. When we scored big in the first innings against Zimbabwe, we didn’t face any problem in the second.
“We were under pressure in the second innings [against West Indies], but the lead that we earned in the first innings built a good foundation for the second innings. We know that an innings can ruin everything, so a lead in the first innings is always important for us,” he said.
“Still, I think our batting should’ve been better [in the second innings]. If we were three down on yesterday, we would’ve scored 30-40 more runs today. If we could take all the catches they would get all-out for 120 or 150. In such conditions, on such wickets, and in such situations, this is what happens,’’ he added.
Bangladesh will play their second Test in Dhaka from November 30. They are currently leading the two-match series by 1-0
