Bangladesh v England: Jonny Bairstow thinks visitors have big enough lead
Saturday 22 October 2016 20:22, UK
Jonny Bairstow thinks England already have a big enough lead to secure a win over Bangladesh in the first Test in Chittagong.
Bairstow hit a crucial 47 - passing the milestone for the most runs (1,091) in a calendar year by a wicketkeeper in the process - as England built a 273-run lead by the end of day three.
The Yorkshireman shared a 127-run stand with Ben Stokes - who top-scored with 85 - as England recovered from being precariously placed at 62-5 in their second innings, to close on 228-8.
"It's great to keep contributing," said Bairstow. "Stokesy set the platform, but to put a partnership on with him was really pleasing and it now puts us into a strong position leading into the next two days.
"I think we've got enough. We need to bat well again in the morning and get as many as possible, but at the start of the day, and being 62-5, we'd have taken this position.
"Going into tomorrow we'd like to apply the pressure early on - we've got two guys at the crease at the moment with a huge amount of experience, so we want to keep grinding the runs out in the morning. Then when we get the ball we've got a lot of options, and need to be relentless.
"We know that the pitch is still going to do things throughout the day. There have been 13 wickets to fall today for 250-odd runs. Patience is the key."
Stokes echoed his team-mate's sentiments after starring with bat and ball on day three, finishing with figures of 4-26 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 228 in the morning session.
"It's always nice to be involved in the game," said Stokes. "We did really well this morning taking those wickets and restricting them to not too many runs. And to now have a 273-run lead after the start we had, we're pretty happy with that.
"Batting with Jonny is pretty simple. We don't really talk about things too much, just about getting the lead up or keep building the partnership.
"We're both pretty aggressive batsmen, so the boundaries eventually come. All of a sudden we'd put on 100 together - you spend some time at the middle and it becomes a lot easier.
"If we get up to 300, 320, I think it will be hard for Bangladesh to bat on that surface though - especially if Moeen Ali bowls tomorrow the way he did to start off in Bangladesh's first innings.
"We've also got Adil Rashid and Gareth Batty, and the seamers reverse-swinging it as well hopefully."
Live Test Cricket
Live coverage of the first Test between Bangladesh and England continues with day four from 4.45am on Sunday, on Sky Sports 2.
