Bangladesh v England: thrilling Test finish in store, says Michael Atherton
Sunday 30 October 2016 07:44, UK
Michael Atherton is looking forward to a thrilling finish in the second Test between Bangladesh and England in Dhaka.
Bangladesh built a 128-run second innings lead by closing day two on 152-3 as England's bowlers leaked runs, but Atherton doesn't believe a target of 250 plus is necessarily out of the visitors' reach.
"I think if Bangladesh can double this lead and get 250 it'll be a great game of cricket," said Atherton. "I don't see the pitch getting worse, though that's not to say that it's an easy pitch to bat on.
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"But England bat very deep, as we've seen in this innings with Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid sharing in a 99-run stand at nine and 10.
"It's very difficult to get through England. And as that ball gets older, it gets easier and Bangladesh don't have the seamers who can reverse swing the ball as it gets old.
"I don't see 220 to 250 being too many, England would have to play well to get there but we thought that about Bangladesh in Chittagong, when they were chasing 280, and almost got home.
"Somewhere around 250 is what I'm hoping for just for a watching a great game of cricket point of view."
Going into day three, England were buoyed by the wicket of Mahmudullah - bowled when looking to slog sweep Zafar Ansari - off the final ball before stumps.
"It was a shocking shot, wasn't it?" added Atherton. "I think I'd let him stew on it overnight and give him a wall of silence for a while
"England were quite canny actually, quite cute, as I think there was a bit of chat from Jonny Bairstow and Alastair Cook brought another man up in the circle - it encouraged him to hit the big shot and he finally went for it.
"It will have given England a real lift as Mahmudullah is a good player and he plays the spin nicely. It will also have been a nice boost for Ansari as well, his second wicket of the day."
Watch extended highlights of today's play on Sky Sports 2 at 5.30pm, followed by The Verdict on the same channel at 6.30pm. Our live coverage of day three begins at 3.45am on Sunday once the clocks have returned to GMT time.
