New Zealand left-arm pacer Neil Wagner praised Bangladeshi pair of Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudul Hasan Joy for putting up a patient 104-run stand for the second wicket on the second day of the first Test at the Bay Oval on Sunday.
After bowling out New Zealand for 328, Shanto (64) and Joy (70 not out) provided a strong reply from Bangladesh with 175/2 at the stumps.
“Full credit to Bangladesh batsmen. I thought they played really well. He showed a lot of patience. He showed some fighting. It’s a really tough corruption out there. It’s just the tough and tough Test cricket of the good days. “We worked really hard and fought,” Wagner said at the virtual press conference.
Wagner, who took two Bangladesh wickets earlier in the day, backed the hosts to take more wickets on the third day. “Just couldn’t really string it together enough and I think couldn’t create enough pressure from both ends. It’s cricket and we got a chance to come back yesterday and obviously, working hard, some initial pressure Got a chance to get a few wickets to build and get myself back in good shape.”
In the absence of senior players like Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Test-retired Mahmudullah in the playing XI, Wagner was impressed by the batting performance of the younger batsmen.
“Bangladesh, whenever they have come here, has been a very tough rival. He has always played well in our conditions. I think others like Shakib played a different brand of cricket. He used to come very aggressively and play a few more shots, which also created opportunities and gave us opportunities to take wickets. They were quality players and have been around for a long time.
“Today’s young players did a great job. I thought they played patiently. He didn’t really give too many opportunities. They were hanging there. They were ready to go in. He dropped the ball a lot. It prompted us to ask more questions and take wickets. This gave him an opportunity to score. I thought they played really well. Full credit to him. I thought when the ball was supposed to be there, he scored. He also left well and defended well.”
Wagner had missed the opportunity to lbw Joy on 20 as New Zealand decided against taking the DRS. But later replays showed that the hosts could have changed the decision.
“The wind was very strong there today. But there was a nice noise. It looked like the inside edge, I asked if he fired it, the people behind the stump said no. Two men at my end of the stump said they heard a noise and thought he had hit it. I said that if he didn’t kill him, I thought he was dead. We all took a collective decision. I think it is part and parcel of the game. Unfortunately, what I heard from the team was the other way around. It was one of those 50-50 guys, tough but not to worry about.”
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