New Zealand looking to keep Bangladesh's lead under 200, says Phillips
Despite running out of partners, Phillips continued to attack Bangladesh's spinners on day three. His method involved a fair amount of risk but the right-hander backed his game plan and went through with his shots.
New Zealand will look to keep Bangladesh's lead under 200 when play resumes on day four in Mirpur, said their top performer in the match Glenn Phillips. After being reduced to 55-5, it was Phillips' counterattacking 87 off 72 that helped the visitors take a slender lead of eight runs in the first innings.
Despite running out of partners, Phillips continued to attack Bangladesh's spinners on day three. His method involved a fair amount of risk but the right-hander backed his game plan and went through with his shots.
"I guess for me it was just trying to play with my bat as much as possible. And picking my poison effectively. Understanding that they're going to bowl really good balls. And what do I want to have in my court to be able to counteract those balls. And I guess just trying to stick to my game plan as clearly as possible. And accepting the fact that the pitch is going to have a little bit of turn and bounce in some stages and not getting too caught up in that and just trying to stay calm and as clear as possible," he said.
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15 wickets fell on day one of the match on a pitch that aided the spinners big time and it did not change much after being under covers for about a day and a half.
"I think it played very similar to the way it did on day one. Bit of spin, bit of skid. And it definitely made for some tough work. And obviously there's a lot of risk involved in the way that both teams have battered, understanding that if you're only gonna be out there for so and so many balls and there's one with your name on it, you've gotta score off the ones that are available. So, it's a good challenge," he said.
It seemed like Bangladesh took a leaf out of Phillips' book when they came out to bat the second time around. There were a lot of attempts of scoring runs and that enabled New Zealand to pick up two early wickets. Bangladesh's lead is now 30 and the Black Caps will hope they don't have to chase too many when they have to bat in the fourth innings.
"I'd probably say anywhere around that 180-200 mark is gonna be a good score and tough to chase. Not impossible to do, but obviously it's gonna take some work, and we're gonna have to stick to our game plans really well. But, if we can keep them to anything under 200 we'll be really happy," Phillips mentioned.
