Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp said on Saturday that they are disappointed not to bat more than 51 overs in their first innings against Sri Lanka, in the two-match Test series opener at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS) in Sylhet, reports Cricbuzz.
Bangladesh put on a poor batting display to be all out for just 188 runs in its first innings that helped Sri Lanka earn a 92-run lead in their first innings. In the second innings, Sri Lanka were 199-5 to have an overall lead of 211 runs with five wickets in hand. Hemp noted that they will have to hope to restrict the visitors under 250 runs.
"We are obviously disappointed not to have batted for more than 51 overs. It is a little bit frustrating but it is what it is. We got wickets in the end, but we were unlucky not to pick up more wickets. They are leading by 211 runs. If we can get early wickets tomorrow morning, we could be looking at a 250 chase," Hemp told reporters at SICS on Saturday. Hemp added that batters were guilty of getting stuck at the wicket and playing deliveries that they should be defending while facing the Sri Lankan pacers as the tourists came up with a brilliant batting display to tale all the 10 wickets.
"I think the three SL seamers bowled really well. If you noticed, they bowled really good lengths. They bowled at an angle, so they challenged the stumps. I think they were guilty of getting stuck at the crease or playing at ball that weren't hitting the stumps," said Hemp.
"It is something that we will discuss overnight into tomorrow, so that we are really clear about how we are going to set about being aware of how to cope with their bowlers. More importantly, we have to look at how we can score off their bowlers. We are trying to score runs. We probably got stuck on the crease a little bit, and sucked into playing at balls that were a touch wide and playing at balls that we should have been defending."
Hemp stated that he is not ready to use DPL and BPL (white-ball tournaments) as excuse for not performing with the bat in the longer format.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
