NZ vs Ban: Ronchi says visitors have had 'upper hand' in 1st Test ahead of Day 5
Jan 04, 2022
Mount Maunganui [New Zealand], January 4 : New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi has admitted that Bangladesh had the upper hand on the Kiwis in the ongoing first Test.
The first international test match of 2022 may be headed towards a historic finish as the play ended on Day 4.
Bangladesh started the day continuing their impressive first inning batting performance that saw them extend their lead to 130 runs on Tuesday.
New Zealand's second innings batting performance has been shaky with a 17-run lead to end the day, but with only 5 more wickets in hand.
"We had to get the wickets to get ourselves back in the game. In the batting, Will Young and Ross Taylor went along nicely in a good partnership that helped with erasing the deficit," said Ronchi in a statement.
"But just as we past it, we lost crucial wickets at a poor time. All in all, Bangladesh have had the upper hand on us for quite a massive part of this test," he added.
Bangladesh wicket-keeper batter Liton Das feels Ebadot Hossain's heroics has given the visitors a upper hand in the ongoing first Test.
"All the players bowled well. They played with concentration and kept to the match strategy that we had outlined at the beginning of play," said Liton Das
"Ebadat was outstanding today and his breakthrough boosted the team a lot. We are not over-excited, we still have to take 5 wickets, and we want to ensure that we give away as few runs as we can," he added.
New Zealand will start Day 5 on the bat with veteran Ross Taylor and Rachin Ravindra continuing their partnership. Bangladesh will look to stop the Kiwis from building a formidable lead with their last five wickets and finish the test off in their second innings.
Day 5 may see Bangladesh pull off a historic win in their team's history. The game will be streamed live and exclusive on Amazon Prime Video from 3:30 AM IST.
