Momentum is with us: Raza

The track at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium has already produced 616 runs in two days for the loss of only 11 wickets. And if this trend continues, which is a possibility, the third and final Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is destined for a draw.

But Zimbabwe opener Sikandar Raza claims that the visitors can still win this match.

"We are definitely playing as though we want to win this game. For that to happen we have to bat out of our socks. Coming into today they were 303 for 2 and no one would have thought they would be 500 or something all out.

"And having said that the last partnership put 50 odd runs on the board, so if you take that away, it could have been 460. So we will keep on believing and we will definitely want a win so that we can take the momentum into the ODI series," said Raza at the post-day press conference yesterday.

Having ended the day on 113 for 1, Raza believed that the momentum was with the visitors.

"Look I think Bangladesh were hoping for a few more wickets. We will definitely take the confidence. We have toiled hard in the sun and I think the correct way has been shown to us by Bangladesh as well; they have done it so consistently. Hopefully we can take the momentum ahead in the next day and the day after," said the Zimbabwe opener.

While the wicket did not show any demons, Raza expects it to crumble in the coming days.

"Definitely as the sun beats on the surface and as the players run on the tracks… there already are a few cracks and some are actually creeping low and some are bouncing low, so yes I expect it to play slightly differently tomorrow [Friday]," Raza observed.

For a bowler who had bowled just 21 overs in his career before this match, the Pakistani-born occasional off-spinner had to put in 36 overs in the first innings of the match alone.

Asked as to how the experience was, Raza jokingly said that he would have to go into 'retirement' if he continued bowling that way.