Mahmud: Tigers will fight back

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Bangladesh coach Khaled Mahmud felt that his team should have dismissed Sri Lanka for fifty runs less than the tourists reached on day one of the second Test.

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 222 but counterpunched with the ball pegging the hosts back to 56/4 by stumps of the first day.

The coach feels that his team can get back on top in the contest if the apply themselves with bat in hand.

Mahmud said: “Definitely going for the result.

“We have just finished one day, though we are on the back foot, there is still a long time to go.”

“We need to settle down tomorrow, bat properly, and try to catch Sri Lanka’s score. Then the match is on.”

Mahmud felt that his bowlers gave the aggressive Sri Lanka batting too many chances to send the ball to the boundary.

He added: “We bowled some long-hops, some easy deliveries, and they punished the loose balls very well.

“I still think the bowlers bowled well, but 160-170 would have been the par score.”

“When they were 106/6 (110/6), that was the time we should have put a nail in their coffin.

“But Dilruwan and Dhananjaya added 52 runs, and I think the dropped catch (of Perera by Sabbir Rahman) shifted the momentum a little bit. It was a very important catch. It should have been 160-70.”

Things came apart late in the day for the hosts when what should have been a simple single resulted in a wicket as Mominul failed to run his bat in properly.

The coach said of the incident: “That was very lazy, we should have been 50-60/1, instead we are 56/4.

“Had the run-out not happened, we might have been 60/1. It was a bit shocking in the dressing room as well, the way he ran and not dragging the bat.”

The coach backed his team to come good with the bat though and get back on top in the decisive second Test.

He said: “We know the wicket will turn, it is not unexpected.

“We have Liton and Mehedi Hasan Miraz in the centre, and Mahmudullah and Sabbir still to come.”

“If we bat disciplined, and play aggressive in these conditions, choose the right balls to hit, I think we can go close to the Sri Lankan score.”

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