The bowlers once again stood up to dig Bangladesh out of hole on the second day of the first Test against Zimbabwe at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who took his first five-for at home in almost two-and-a-half-year, was the prime tormentor as the hosts bundled the visitors out for 273 in their first innings.
The bowlers failed to make an incision on the first day after Bangladesh were all out for 191 in the first innings, that gave Zimbabwe an upper hand when they resumed their innings at 67-0 on the second day.
But as the day progressed, the pace of Nahid Rana and then the spin of Mehidy were too hot to handle for the visitors as they lost their way.
Mehidy praised every bowler for their efforts after the day鈥檚 play. He also mentioned that the role of the spinners was only to support the pacers.
鈥楾he bowlers bowled really well today [Monday]. But we should鈥檝e done that yesterday too. We tried to find out [what we were lacking],鈥� said the all-rounder at the end of the second day鈥檚 play.聽
鈥楾he pacers bowled well, every one of them. As spinners, our roles were to support them. As the pacers have got a big role in the first innings of a Test match, they did that massively. It helped the team to get the opposition all out.鈥�
Mehidy also said that he didn鈥檛 expect to get so many wickets.
鈥楾o get wickets is always a great feeling,鈥� said Mehidy.
聽鈥楤ut my expectation wasn鈥檛 that high, to be honest. I tried to bowl in good areas and to support my team. You need to bowl in good areas as well as luck to get five wickets.鈥櫬�
The 27-year-old said that in this type of wickets, the key for the bowlers is to dry up the runs.
He said, 鈥榃e sometimes understand how to bowl on any particular wicket. The coaches also guided us very well. We looked at the video footage after my first spell. I consulted the coaches about my bowling speed, whether it is enough for this pitch.鈥�
鈥榊ou can鈥檛 take wickets quickly on this pitch, but if you cut away the runs, the batter鈥檚 mistake might be forthcoming. That was my mentality, which probably brought me the wickets,鈥� he added.
Mehidy thought that anything around 350-400 in the second innings would give them a fair chance to make a great comeback.
鈥業f we bat properly, we can get 350-400. And a target of 300 runs in a Test is difficult,鈥� he said.
鈥楽o far, it鈥檚 in our control, I think. We could reduce the lead to 25 runs. We are down by one wicket, so if we can bat with enough responsibility, they will face challenges on the fourth day.鈥�
