Bangladesh are hoping captain Mohammad Ashraful will rediscover his batting touch as they resume their quest for a first major win in the second Test against New Zealand here on Saturday. Ashraful, 24, admitted he had angered fans with his two and nought in the opening Test, where Bangladesh had one of their best chances to beat one of the top sides.
"I know people were angry with me but it doesn't irritate me because this is reality. They support me when I do well, so I would like to have some support when I don't do well. Hopefully there will be a turnaround," he said. Bangladesh looked set for a famous win before New Zealand, set 317 to win, reeled in their record away-from-home target with three wickets to spare.
But the home team, whose lone success in 54 Tests was against Zimbabwe, will take heart from dominating the first four days with left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan recording the country's best innings figures of 7-36. Ashraful, who is returning to his home ground at the Sher-e-Bangla Mirpur Stadium, said Bangladesh would target New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori after his fighting 76 saved the opening Test.
Teams (from): Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddique, Rajin Saleh, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain, Naeem Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain, Mahbubul Alam.
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Grant Elliott, Daniel Flynn, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Aaron Redmond, Iain O'Brien, Mark Gillespie. Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS), Asoka de Silva (SRI) Tv umpire: Akhtaruddin (BAN) Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND).
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