'Delighted we took 20 wickets'

Can Sabbir Rahman and Taijul Islam get those 33 runs tomorrow morning? That’s the question doing the rounds after the end of the fourth day's play of the first Test between Bangladesh and England. After a topsy-turvy day, both teams still have a shot at winning this Test.

Ask Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha the burning question and he will give you the most practical answer. 

“The target is about 30 something. Tomorrow if we bat around 10 to 15 overs, I think we will get to the target. That’s what we are trying to do. We need to get in there and spend as much time as possible in the middle. They [England] have to come and take the wickets. We have 90 overs to bat. That’s all I can tell you,” the Sri Lankan told reporters after the day’s play. 

Rather than trying to predict the result tomorrow, Hathurusingha was more keen on analysing the way the Tigers had played over the four days. Bangladesh managed to scalp 20 English wickets for the first time in Tests and he was delighted with that. 

“I won’t go into individual performances. I am very happy that we got 20 wickets. I am very happy that we are still in the game in the fourth day against a team like England. I don’t think anyone gave us that chance four days ago. 

“We had a good game plan of course and we would have liked to do a bit better in the first innings. There are few issues… we have to brush up. But the positive thing is that we took 20 wickets and we are still in the game,” said Hathurusingha.