"If we pick up wickets in morning we'll be on top": SL all-rounder Kamindu Mendis
Mar 31, 2024
Chattogram [Bangladesh], March 31 : Sri Lanka all-rounder Kamindu Mendis believes spinners would play a crucial role on Day 3 and picking a couple of wickets in the morning session would put the visitors on top in the second Test.
Mendis rode high on his performances in the first Test and struck an unbeaten 92 which powered Sri Lanka to a massive total of 531 on Day 2.
At the end of the day, Sri Lanka claimed a wicket through Lahiru Kumara and still have a 476-run lead over the hosts.
When Bangladesh came out to bat, Sri Lanka didn't enjoy the same amount of movement that the hosts did on the opening day. After the end of the day's play, Mendis talked about the pitch playing in favour of the batters and the role of spinners in deciding the outcome of the Test.
"The pitch, compared to the last game, is quite good for the batters. But I think it'll become more advantageous for the spinners going forward. I think I got to bat on a good day in that sense. Some balls did turn today, but I think tomorrow the spinners will play a bigger role. At the same time we have three very good fast bowlers - one wicket was already taken by them - so I think the combination is good. If we can pick up two-three wickets in the morning we'll be on top," Kamindu said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
Bangladesh had a woeful outing with the bat in first Test as they failed to topple 200-run mark across both innings. Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp stated that the home team would have to bat for the entre third day to stay in contention of winning the second Test.
"We are still thinking about winning the game. It might seem a bit bizarre considering we are [476] runs behind. The key bit will be to negotiate tomorrow. If we do that well, then we negotiate the day after. If we do that, from a batting point of view, you never know what can happen. First things first, we have to make sure we bat well for three sessions tomorrow," Hemp said.
Bangladesh will begin Day 3 with one wicket down and trailing by 476 runs with Zakir Hasan and Taijul Islam unbeaten with scores of 28 and 0 respectively.
