'100-150 runs short'
Home fans demoralised following Australia's dominant showing on the second day of the second Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong can take heart from the words of all-rounder Nasir Hossain.
"We are still 80 runs ahead. Cricket is such a game that you cannot say anything for sure. We are a little on the back foot but in cricket the whole scenario can change within an hour or an hour and a half," said the optimistic Nasir while speaking at the post-day press conference yesterday.
Australia finished the day on top with 225 for two and many had questions about the intent and plans of the Tigers, but Nasir praised the bowlers' effort and rued the batting effort.
"You see, Warner (David) hardly batted as slowly as he did today. That indicated that our bowlers did well. It's just that they did not get the wickets. The scenario can change at any time. The match will go to the fifth day, so we are not thinking about the result; we are thinking about what we have at this moment," he said.
"Bowlers got help from the Mirpur wicket but here our bowlers are not getting the bounce. On the other hand, the ball was not turning after pitching on a stump-to-stump line," he added.
"It is my personal opinion that if you consider the wicket, we were 100 to 150 runs short in our first innings total. We should have scored at least 400 to 450 runs on such a good wicket," he opined.
When asked whether their approach was negative, Nasir said: "We were defensive as well as attacking. If you see Shakib [Al Hasan] pitched the ball on the sixth to seventh stumps against Warner as it was difficult for Warner who hardly plays the sweep shot. If you talk about fielding, yes there were more fielders on the boundary as both batsmen were set."
"Warner and Smith always try to score runs and that's why we tried to block them. We were looking for their mistakes," he added. He also said that the day could have been much better for them if they could hold onto the catch off Warner dropped by Mominul Haque at short leg, or complete the stumping, also off Warner, late in the day.
"The day could have been different if we capitalised on those two chances. But the catch was fifty-fifty and it's tough to take this kind of catch. On the other hand, the stumping was difficult as the ball kept low," he said.
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