Will the Tigers pounce?

LEADING FROM THE FRONT: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori (L) is ecstatic after dismissing Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal in the second innings of the first Test at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR

If the words of the New Zealand camp is to be taken seriously, overly confident might be a close enough assessment of their mood.
“We hopefully will take the two remaining wickets tomorrow and knock off the runs in the afternoon or the fifth day,” said Jeetan Patel yesterday despite his side's poor track record of chasing down fourth innings targets.
One of those two wickets, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, however, believes that a total between 270 and 300 always offers pressure.
“We should get another 30-40 runs because any score above 270 can be difficult,” said the Tigers pace spearhead, who was unbeaten on five having made sure that no further damage took place at the end of the third day of the first Test at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium.
Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons believed that the game will go into the fifth day, whichever way the tide turns.
“Whatever happens it will probably go into the fifth day,” said the former Australian international.
Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim who struck a vital 32 said that the Black Caps would be tense.
“If we can score another 30 runs, they would be nervous. They have no experience in their top-order,” said Mushfiqur.
Interestingly enough, if the Black Caps were asked to chase the 259 runs -- Bangladesh's lead so far -- it would be their best showing away from home.
The last time they were successful was in 1985-86, when they chased down 164 runs in Perth against Australia and their sub-continental best has been 177 all out against Pakistan in 1990, where they lost by 66 runs. In 49 attempts, the Black Caps have won just six times chasing on foreign soil.
“I think we still are in a strong position as well. If you look at stats, it goes each way,” said Patel before adding, “I think the guys worked on their game plan really well. We are really looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.”
With two days remaining, he said that time is on their side.
"I think the guys need to work on their game plan and have a day and a half to do it. The belief is still there. We've got a lot of time to do that,” insisted Patel, who took two wickets for 52 in the second innings.
“We need to gut it out for 30-40 overs when the chance arrives. If we can bat for long periods of time, we have a good chance,” added the off-spinner.
He observed that there was enough encouragement in the wicket for his side's batsmen.
“There's plenty of runs out there. A lot of us are saying that it is going up and down all over the shop but it's not that bad a wicket. There's little bit of turn and variable bounce but our guys are in a good position.
“It was always going to turn here (in Bangladesh). We would always come here and expect to play on spinning wickets. But it is easier when the ball gets older,” added the Kiwi.
But chief selector Rafiqul Alam said that the spinners, especially Shakib Al Hasan, would be quite a handful.
“Shakib (Al Hasan) has been bowling well for the last few months, especially in the one-dayers and this first innings,” said the former national cricketer.
He also believed that a target of 300 runs would be a slightly comfortable for the Tigers, given the state of the wicket.