Bangladesh fast bowling coach Ottis Gibson lauded the Tiger seamers for their outstanding efforts against New Zealand on the opening day of the first Test at Mount Maunganui.
According to him, it needs an immense skill to keep New Zealand batters at bay in a condition, mostly favoured to the batters.
Young pacer Shoriful Islam provided the visitors an early breakthrough in the morning, but bowlers seemed to struggle later on. However, the bowlers grabbed three wickets when the momentum appeared to have faded, as a result, New Zealand were restricted to 258 for 5 wickets at stumps.
“I think the fast bowlers bowled well in difficult conditions. They toiled really hard. It is hot today. I thought we were brilliant with the new ball. We pitched the ball up, swung it and beat the bat on numerous occasions. We could have had a few more wickets,” Gibson said.
“We are playing against the best team in the world. There was a close lbw shout against Devon Conway. On another day, it is given out. Those are the small margins in international cricket. I am quite proud of the way the boys battled and kept going all day,” he said.
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Gibson said they worked hard on bowling full deliveries that swung, a factor that often goes missing when they play Tests at home.
“We have been working on swinging the ball a lot. I think you will see everyone swung the ball at some point today. We tend to bowl back of length in Bangladesh because we don’t get much swing there. Here, we pitched the ball up quite a lot fuller. We have been working hard since getting off the plane in Christchurch,” he added.
“Here, we pitched the ball up quite a lot fuller. We have been working hard since getting off the plane in Christchurch,” he added.
