'BD did not show intent'
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that he was disappointed that Bangladesh did not attempt to chase down a record target of 467 in the fourth innings of the second Test. The visitors had declared on the fourth day with six overs remaining and failed to make any late strikes.
It raised the question of whether Mathews had left the declaration too late.
Speaking to reporters after the match he said, “No it was not too late. If they wanted to chase they could have, they did not show any intent. We were one-nil up in the series and they had to make the move. We declared yesterday itself, (rather) than waiting for today. We were being positive.”
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim in his reply to the statement questioned Mathews's decision to declare so late stating that he would have declared with at least 'twenty overs to go' had he been in the visitors' position.
Despite being able to extract plenty of turn from the wicket through his spinners, Mathews described the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury wicket to be a batsman's paradise.
“I actually thought we could start another Test match tomorrow on the same wicket because it wont assist the bowlers at all; it was not a sporting wicket. I thought it was a batsman's paradise and good for batting once the seam got soft,” said Mathews.
With just a few more days to go for the shortest format of the game to begin, Mathews stated that he expects a tougher fight from the hosts in the Twenty20s.
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