Daijiworld Media Network

Chittagong, Oct 12 : Brilliant performance by the hosts. Even after losing an early wicket within the first 20 mins, they came back strongly with a solid 104-run stand between Sohag Gazi and Robiul Islam. Gazi has looked in fine touch with a well-constructed 95 not out while Robiul has supported him remarkably. Bangladesh already lead by 22 runs and with the way they are batting, they look good to add on a few more. New Zealand bowlers seem lackluster and they need to toil more to get a breakthrough

It’s not often that one comes across a scenario in cricket where a player who has scored his maiden ton in Test cricket ends up being disappointed. Unfortunately for Mominul Haque, who fell 19 runs short of what would have been a spectacular double century, it was one of those days.

“There’s no doubt, I am really delighted to score my first century, but I am sad because I missed out on a great opportunity. And I don’t know when I can get such a chance again,” Mominul told reporters at the post-day press conference.

Except for the time when he was dropped on 171 in the latter half of the day, Mominul’s innings was flawless. A wide-angle analysis of his innings would show that the player scored in all parts of the ground. When the bowlers over-pitched he drove them straight back, the short-of-length deliveries were regularly cut through point and the bouncers were pulled away to the boundary.

It was as though Mominul had read the bowlers and the pitch to precision and all that was required from him was to use the wide variety of shots in his arsenal. Little did the Kiwis know about the immense amount of talent that the five-feet-four-inch player possessed.

A modest Mominul however stated that he had never expected to play such a big innings.
“I never thought of playing such a big knock. At first I thought I would just score a hundred but I never thought of scoring 150,” he said.

While he did reach his hundred early in the day through four boundaries, the player who started the third day on 77 admitted that he felt a bit of pressure.

“Yesterday (Thursday) when I came to bat, I got a lot of poor deliveries, and they probably did not know much about my weaknesses. Today though, while batting, there was slight pressure on me because the hundred was approaching,” said Mominul.

“So I was a bit cautious, plus they bowled in good areas today,” added the 22-year-old.

After arriving at the crease on Thursday with Bangladesh struggling at 8 for 2, he raced to 77 of 71 deliveries. Yesterday however, he depended more on singles. His scoring rate dropped further after he reached 150 before he was trapped in front towards the end of the day.

“Actually after I scored 150, they took the new ball and they bowled very well with it. The first two wickets [Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque] fell with the new ball as well. So Mushfiqur [Rahim] bhai and I had planned to play carefully,” he said.
“We planned to wait for the bad deliveries. But at that time, they were bowling at good areas and the ball was keeping low as well,” he added.

Opportunities to score double hundreds do not come that often and Mominul should have seized it. But just going by the sheer talent that the batsman displayed yesterday, one has a feeling that his next opportunity may not be that far away.

After the third day’s play yesterday, New Zealand batsman Hamish Rutherford said that the Kiwis, with a lead of 89 runs, still have a chance to win the game.
Speaking to reporters at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium he said: “We are in a good position. If we can get a couple of early wickets tomorrow (Saturday) that can put us in a very good state.”

New Zealand’s next aim is to snap up the remaining three Bangladesh wickets for as little as possible and set an appropriate target for them to chase in the fourth innings.

“If we can get them out with runs in our favour then those will be the runs that they will be worried about scoring. We can perhaps try to get them out in maybe two and half sessions [in the fourth innings], that is the ideal target,” he said.
“The pitch might break in the last innings and the ball might turn more and along with that there will be scoreboard pressure. We have always thought we could probably take 2 or 3 wicket at a collapse,” he added.

Rutherford also acknowledged Mominul Haque’s innings, which kept them at bay for most parts of the day. “He batted very well. Once he got to a hundred, he really knuckled down and played very well,” he said.