Rain game continues

Just as a full day's play on Thursday provided an ounce of hope for the usual settings of a Test match to ensue in this series, cyclone Komen, it seemed had other ideas.

For the third time in this series, a day had to be called off due to incessant rainfall. After waiting for roughly three hours, play was called off at 12:10 PM yesterday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

While the day was officially cancelled in the afternoon, the way the rains poured in, the decision seemed inevitable right from the morning.

What's worse is that day three, today, is expected to witness a similar scenario with the weather forecast predicting non-stop rainfall.

The match as it currently stands is open to both sides. Bangladesh finished the first day on 248 for 8 with Nasir Hossain at the crease. The wicket at Mirpur seemed to provide a little bit more bounce for the pacers as compared to the wicket in Chittagong and also saw the spinners getting more turn.

The pitch already seems to have deteriorated quite a bit and as the Test progresses it might get even more difficult for the batsmen.

As a result, even if the visitors seem to be at a point of advantage at the moment, they will however, will have to deal with plenty of turn as Bangladesh have fielded three specialist spinners in this side.

At the end of the first day, Mominul Haque had stated that the hosts would want to score a total near about 300 before getting bundled out.

It's a task that seems unlikely since Bangladesh' batsmen merely went at a run-rate of around two-and-a-half throughout the innings.

Dale Steyn had described the wicket as one that is difficult for both the batsmen and the bowlers. He had implied that it was a kind of wicket where it would be difficult for the batters to get away with the game due to the lack of scoring opportunities and that the side that depicted more patience would end up victorious at the end.    

The last Test in Chittagong was the first time that Bangladesh managed to draw a Test against South Africa. If the second Test in Mirpur ends up as a draw as well, this will be Bangladesh's fourth draw in the year and 15th overall.