Bangladesh-New Zealand Series
Gibson urges Tigers to bowl better lengths
|| CF DESK ||
Bangladesh pace-bowling coach Ottis Gibson urged the bowlers to bowl better lengths to take control of New Zealand's innings in the ongoing Test.
Tom Latham’s blistering 186 powered New Zealand post 349-1 as Conway finished day one on 99 off 148 balls. However, the Tiger bowlers put on average performance and failed to carry their previous match form.
"We have to learn from today. We bowled too many four-balls today. Too many balls wide outside the offstump. When we missed our lengths, we got cut or got too full to be driven. You can't allow the batters to score down the ground and both sides of the wicket,"
"One of my mantras is you can't control the scoring if you don't control the length. We didn't control the length today to build pressure on them,” Gibson said.
However, Gibson admitted that such performances are bound to happen at the highest level.
"We saw the highs and lows of international sport today. Last week, we were on a high. We are, perhaps, still feeling the effects of last week's emotional and physical investment. We didn't hit our straps,”
"New Zealand would have been hurting from last week. They showed why they are one of the best teams in the world. They applied themselves. They left a lot better. They showed us why they are holding the [WTC] mace at the moment," he said.
According to Gibson, Latham's strategy of leaving as many balls as possible in the first session paid off. He said that the Hagley Oval's green surface didn't quite live up to the expectations as a fast bowler's paradise.
"I thought Latham played really well. He left a lot of good balls early this morning. He made us bowl to him. Unfortunately, we didn't bowl enough good balls to create the sort of pressure we created last week. Conway is in unbelievable form,”
"The pitch didn't do as much as we expected. But we didn't bowl as well as we could have done either. When we bowled full, there wasn't a lot of seam movement," he added.