With only day left in the Test and Bangladesh replying strongly in their second innings, New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton has said his side is confident of chasing any fourth-innings target they are set. New Zealand gained a 155-run first-innings lead after they were bowled out for 437. They now trail by 114 runs and need to take the seven remaining wickets.
The visitors have never lost a Test to Bangladesh, having played out two draws. The most recent one was in Chittagong, but the Mirpur Test is heading towards an uncertain finish, with neither team holding a significant advantage.
“We would have liked at least two more wickets tonight,” Fulton said. “We need to come out tomorrow morning and if we get a couple of wickets in the first hour, it will be an exciting day. There is still obviously a lot of time to go in this game. Bangladesh have a lead, but not a huge one.
“I am pretty sure, if there is a target, we will try to do as much as we can to win the game. If we can get some early wickets, then we have a lot of overs to chase a smaller target. But we have to wait and see how it unfolds.”
New Zealand were frustrated on the fourth afternoon by the third-wicket stand of 157 between Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque, particularly Mominul’s second century in as many Tests. Fulton praised the batsman, and said there was not much a fielding side can do in such a situation.
“He has played very well so far. After the last game, we spoke about our plans to him and maybe wanting to play a lot straighter to him and bowl just outside off stump,” Fulton said. “He was very patient today, left a lot of balls and when we did bowl him a bad ball, he hit it for four. Sometimes you have to take your hat off to the batters.”
But New Zealand did try different things. There was some reverse swing going for the three-man pace attack, but it was minimal because the wicket has, predictably, slowed down.
“We were trying to get the ball to reverse. It did get quite rough, we got that side a little coarse. There’s not a lot of pace in the wicket now. Even if the ball is reversing, it is difficult when the wicket is not too fast.
“I don’t think too much went wrong [from our side]. We bowled reasonably well and it was a pretty good batting wicket. A lot of the credit must go to the two batsmen. They played well,” he said.
