Good first hour tomorrow should set the game up: Cummins
Pat Cummins, Australia's lead pacer, reckons that his team has a great chance of upstaging the hosts after an engrossing day 3 of the first Test in Dhaka. Chasing a target of 265, the visitors recovered from the loss of two early wickets to finish the day at 109 for two, still needing another 156 runs to go 1-0 up in the two-Test series.
Having started the day at 45 for one, the hosts failed to cash in on Tamim Iqbal's impressive 78 - a slew of rash shots against some disciplined Australian bowling saw them finish at 221, an overall lead of 264 runs. Against an attack that was missing Josh Hazlewood, who was later ruled out of the remainder of the tour with a left side injury, the visitors' resurgence was led by Nathan Lyon - the off-spinner finished with impressive figures of six for 82 as Australia managed to keep the target down to manageable proportions.
"Yeah I think it is a great position. I think the pitch seems to have mellowed out a little bit compared to day one. I mean, I think keeping our target to 260 (265) really kept us in the game and to finish off tonight like we did, if we have a good first hour tomorrow it should really set the game up. So I think we're in a great position," Cummins said, when asked about Australia's comeback.
Batting for a second time, Australia lost Matt Renshaw (5) and Usman Khawaja (1) early, but a stirring unbroken stand of 81 for the third wicket between vice-captain David Warner (75*) and captain Steve Smith (25*) ensured that Australia ended the day as the better-placed team.
"As I said, that last hour or so should give us a lot of confidence, I am certainly really confident. Smithy and Dave (Warner) look like they had really good game plans out there and they were in control. So that is really promising and it is only 150 runs or so away, so a good couple of hours in the morning and hopefully we get pretty close," the 24-year old pacer added.
While Lyon headlined Australia's bowling efforts, Cummins himself chipped in with a useful wicket, that of top-scorer, Tamim Iqbal. The pacer who bowled with plenty of skill and discipline was understandably delighted with the way he set-up his victim. "I think it just kicked off a length. I think the pitch is doing a couple of little things every now and then but it was just one that happened to kick up a bit and fortunately hit the glove," he said while explaining Tamim's dismissal.
"Obviously really satisfying. It is a pretty hard grind out there at times but I guess our goal as quicks was just to keep the scoreboard pretty tight. We knew probably weren't going to break through them like we might try to in other conditions. So we were just trying to keep it tight and that's what I was most pleased with. And to get another wicket, a big wicket as Tamim was looking in great form, was hugely satisfying," he added.
While Cummins had a pretty satisfying day, the visitors had some bad news lined-up as Hazlewood, their number one pacer, was ruled out of the remainder of the Test series and possibly the India ODI tour with an injury. Cummins reckoned the loss of Hazlewood could prove to be huge, but felt Australia could manage without him - especially having someone of the class of Jackson Bird ready to replace him.
"He's going to be really hard to replace", Cummins said of Hazlewood. "He's played all but one of the last 30 Tests. He said it is going to be pretty hard sitting at home watching, he hasn't done that for three or four years. So he's a big member around the group.
"I am going to miss having dinner with him every night, but we have got Jackson Bird waiting in the wings which is great. He's been bowling beautifully out the back here. Again, someone who has been around the team a long time and been bowling really well. Had some great performances for Australia in the past as well. It's not good to miss Joshy, but we're lucky we have such a strong squad over here," he signed off.
Source: Cricbuzz
