Ctg wicket isn’t easy to bat, says Nathan Lyon

The wicket wasn’t as difficult as Dhaka Test had seen but no teams were sure how wicket would behave as the day progresses.

Bangladesh reached 253 for six, recovering from a precarious 85 for four with Nathan Lyon posing threat in almost every delivery. It wasn’t that the Australian off-spinner got immense support from the pitch, he rather got almost every delivery skidded which made his quicker and straight deliveries tougher to pick up.

Some of the Bangladesh batsmen also helped him in taking his second straight and 11th five-for, playing some forced shot.

“I've got no idea what a good score is. We've got to wait until we see both teams bat on it. At the moment we need to go out there and take the four wickets and bowl really well in partnerships like we started off this morning,” Nathan Lyon said.

“I think the wicket's going to deteriorate, yeah for sure, but I think I might have spun one ball out of 28 overs today. There's not much spin at the moment so it's a good challenge for us spinners to challenge the batters and challenge their defence on a wicket like this. But subcontinent wickets around the world spin when the game goes on so I've got no doubt that this one will.”

Bangladesh also know that at some point it would spin and hence they weren’t sure how many runs on the board would be good to challenge.

“The wicket isn’t easy to bat on, but we did try to play till the end of the day. Mushfiq and Nasir are still out there. I am not really sure what is a good score here. We just have to bat as long as possible,” said Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman.

The game is even at the moment, according to Nathan Lyon.

"It's pretty even. They played well. Sabbir and the skipper they batted really well, they took the game on, they played some brave cricket. You've got to give credit where credit's due. They played some good shots. But at the end of the day I was pretty proud of our bowlers' efforts to go out there and keep fighting all the way through to the 90th over. As I said before, that was the hardest conditions I've ever had. The wicket's not really doing much, there's not much spin, there's no bounce. So to challenge the Bangladesh batters as much as we could, I thought it was a pretty good day to be honest.”

The Australians dropped batsman Usman Khawaja, picked three spinners, brining up Steve O’Keefe alongside Lyon and Ashton Agar and  they also brought in allrounder Hilton Cartwright as a seam bowling backup for Cummins in a revamped lineup that is trying to avoid a first-ever Test series defeat to Bangladesh.

It was however rare that the Australians played three spinners at the same time. Lyon almost forgot when he last played with two spinners alongside him  in the competitive cricket.

Ctg wicket isnt easy to bat, says Nathan Lyon

The wicket wasnt as difficult as Dhaka Test had seen but no teams were sure how wicket would behave as the day progresses. Bangladesh reached 253 for six, recovering from a precarious 85 for four with Nathan Lyon posing threat in almost every delivery. It wasnt that the Australian off-spinner got immense support from the pitch, he rather got almost every delivery skidded which made his quicker and straight deliveries tougher to pick up. Some of the Bangladesh batsmen also helped him in taking his second straight and 11th five-for, playing some forced shot. Ive got no idea what a good score is. Weve got to wait until we see both teams bat on it. At the moment we need to go out there and take the four wickets and bowl really well in partnerships like we started off this morning, Nathan Lyon said. I think the wickets going to deteriorate, yeah for sure, but I think I might have spun one ball out of 28 overs today. Theres not much spin at the moment so its a good challenge for us spinners to challenge the batters and challenge their defence on a wicket like this. But subcontinent wickets around the world spin when the game goes on so Ive got no doubt that this one will. Bangladesh also know that at some point it would spin and hence they werent sure how many runs on the board would be good to challenge. The wicket isnt easy to bat on, but we did try to play till the end of the day. Mushfiq and Nasir are still out there. I am not really sure what is a good score here. We just have to bat as long as possible, said Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman. The game is even at the moment, according to Nathan Lyon. Its pretty even. They played well. Sabbir and the skipper they batted really well, they took the game on, they played some brave cricket. Youve got to give credit where credits due. They played some good shots. But at the end of the day I was pretty proud of our bowlers efforts to go out there and keep fighting all the way through to the 90th over. As I said before, that was the hardest conditions Ive ever had. The wickets not really doing much, theres not much spin, theres no bounce. So to challenge the Bangladesh batters as much as we could, I thought it was a pretty good day to be honest. The Australians dropped batsman Usman Khawaja, picked three spinners, brining up Steve OKeefe alongside Lyon and Ashton Agar and they also brought in allrounder Hilton Cartwright as a seam bowling backup for Cummins in a revamped lineup that is trying to avoid a first-ever Test series defeat to Bangladesh. It was however rare that the Australians played three spinners at the same time. Lyon almost forgot when he last played with two spinners alongside him in the competitive cricket.