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The highest fourth innings chase on the ground is England’s 209 over a decade ago
Published : 08 Dec 2023, 08:59 PM
“Ready to do everything to win” Bangladesh are looking to set a “200-220-run target” for New Zealand to seal the series with another victory, Bangladesh offspinner Nayeem Hasan says.
The Tigers were 30 runs ahead of New Zealand with 8 wickets in hand at the close of third day’s play in the second Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Nayeem believes adding another 170-190 runs to their second innings total will be enough for his side, who lead the Test series 1-0, to restrict New Zealand and pick up their second win in the series.
On the first day of the Mirpur Test, as many as 15 wickets fell in 79 overs in overcast conditions. The spinners grabbed 13 of those wickets before the second day washed out without a ball being bowled.
After a delayed start to the third day’s play, New Zealand lost five wickets while the hosts lost two in the 32.3 overs of play on Friday.
Although the track offered more for the batters on Friday than it did on the opening day, it was still clearly not a breezy task as was evident from the batting of Daryl Mitchell, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto.
If things continue the way it is, the pitch will wear out further on the final two days and batting is supposed to only get harder.
“I think the longer we bat, the better it will be for us. If we can score 200-220 runs, we’ll hopefully be able to defend it.”
The history of the Mirpur ground supports Nayeem’s projection.
No team have ever lost a Test after setting a target of 210 and higher in 10 instances on the ground.
England had chased down the highest target of 209 in Mirpur more than a decade ago.
“We are ahead now and we have to hold firmly onto that. If we can make a good score, we’ll be able to win the game.”
