05:20
Isam: Bangladesh off kilter after Smith reprieve
A batting collapse from Bangladesh has become so routine that when it happened on the third day against Australia in Mirpur, it didn’t surprise many. An unplayable delivery, a bad shot, a freak run-out and a batsman not taking a justifiable review piled on each other, as they lost seven wickets in the space of 27.2 overs, adding just 86 runs.The collapse meant that Australia were left with a fourth-innings target of 265, of which they had knocked off 109 by stumps.
There have been many such sudden batting disintegrations for Bangladesh from a position of strength, since last September. These have sometimes cost them a game, while on a few occasions – most famously against England in Mirpur – the bowlers have bailed them out.
They could still do it on the fourth day in Mirpur but the challenge is greater this time. Tamim Iqbal, whose dismissal soon after lunch began the swift descent, called Mushfiqur Rahim’s dismissal unlucky and said that Shakib had the right intentions while attempting an inside-out shot that went to the cover fielder. He was also puzzled that Sabbir Rahman did not take the review – he was dismissed by Lyon but replays indicated the ball had not hit the bat or the gloves on its way to short leg.
“If Mushfiqur and Sabbir added 25-30 runs, we would have taken a 300-run lead,” Tamim said. “Mushfiqur didn’t have much to do with his dismissal. It is hard to say why Sabbir didn’t take the review.
“He may have thought it hit his gloves. On the first day, he felt he didn’t hit it but he did. It is hard to say what he was thinking. Shakib was looking for runs but if he had waited just a bit more, it would have been better. He did well in the first innings.”
Tamim said that the 265-run target did not please the home side and put down the second innings as a lost opportunity. “If we were asked a couple of days ago, we would have been happy with 260-270 target. We had an opportunity today to make the lead more than 300, so it is slightly disappointing,” he said.
Imrul Kayes, Tamim and Mushfiqur might have been unlucky with their dismissals, but Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hossain and Sabbir didn’t do themselves any favours. Soumya’s attempt to clear long-on with 11 balls remaining on the second day appeared unnecessary.
“If he had seen off the day, it may have helped us. He had crossed the difficult phase but unfortunately, he got out. If he was around this morning, we would have been in a better situation,” he said.
In the first innings, Bangladesh recovered a score of 10 for 3 through a big partnership, but there was no such rescue act in the second innings. If they end up 0-1 in the series on the fourth day, much of the blame will be at the feet of the batsmen who didn’t grab their chances.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo