Domingo hopes against hope

Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo hoped against the hopes to deny Pakistan victory in the first Test, relying on the popular saying "anything is possible in Test cricket".
But the hosts indeed would have to pull off a miracle as Pakistan needed just 93 runs to seal the deal with all 10 wickets hands. Set a 202-run to win, Pakistan openers-- Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique-- went unscathed to help the side reach 109 for no loss.
"Pakistan are well ahead of the game. They need another 93 runs, so it will need something really special," Domingo said on Monday.
"Anything is possible in Test cricket. We've to come tomorrow morning believing we still have a chance. If we can pick up one or two wickets in the first half an hour, anything is possible."
Having taken a 44-run lead in the first innings, Bangladesh squandered the chance of dominating Pakistan after a manic afternoon session on day three when they were reduced to 39-4. That session in fact tilted the game towards Pakistan, Domingo admitted.Bangladesh earlier put up 330 in their first innings thanks to a maiden century of Liton Das, who went on to score 114 and later added 59 run in the second innings to be the highest scorer of the side again.
"We were really good in the first two days. Most of day three was good, but we didn't bat well in the last session yesterday. It put us under big pressure. It was disappointing to see," he remarked.
"I thought we played really good Test cricket up until that point. We got a competitive score in the first innings. I thought the spinners and seamers bowled well to get us the lead. We just had a terrible last session yesterday which put us under a lot of pressure in the game."
But he had special praise for Liton Das who came back strongly after being dropped from the T20 squad following his poor Twenty20 World Cup outing.
"Liton has been averaging close 60 in the last 18 months. He has played some really good innings for us in the middle. We found a good spot for him at No 6 or 7, which allows him to bat with the lower-order and get the confidence going," he said of Liton.
"We know he is a fantastic player. It took him a while to find his way in Test cricket. Over the last year, he has been a big positive for us in Tests. Maybe in another year's time, he can be the new No 4 or 5 for Bangladesh."
But Bangladesh problem still lie with their top order who couldn't fire expectedly, putting the pressure on the middle order. Both the openers Shadman Islam and Saif Hassan couldn't show any potentiality against a high quality attack.
"It has been disappointing. We weren't happy at the way they got out considering the nature of the wicket. Shadman has come off a hundred in his last Test, be it five or six months ago. We are finding ourselves under pressure against the new ball," the South Africa-born coach said.
"We are playing against a quality bowling attack. Saif is still playing his fifth or sixth Test. He is very inexperienced. Shadman has played maybe 10. It has been tough for them against high quality bowlers. So, there's a lot of work for them to do in Tests," he added.     -BSS