New Zealand batsman BJ Watling considers himself lucky after scoring a career-best 103 on Thursday to put his side in a strong position in the second Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.
Watling was given an early reprieve on four, at a time when New Zealand had just lost two wickets in two overs and faced danger with the scoreboard reading 293-7.Sakib al Hasan took a simple catch at cover off Rubel Hossain’s bowling, but the umpires called upon the third umpire to see if Rubel had overstepped. He had, and Watling was called back to resume his innings, which did not end until New Zealand had reached 469 runs.
‘Obviously feeling rather lucky today,’ Watling told reporters after his second Test century, ‘But I guess that happens. It happened to one of them today.
‘It’s great to get that opportunity to keep going and make it count and try to make a decent contribution.’
The South Africa–born wicketkeeper-batsman was referring to Bangladesh opener Anamul Haque, who was given a similar reprieve off Doug Bracewell when when he was on one.
Unlike Watling, however, Anamul could not take advantage and was trapped lbw for just three soon after.
‘I just tried to switch back on and start again really. Learnt from the mistake that I made – pretty rash shot – so it was good to get a chance to redeem myself and try to score as many runs as possible,’ said Watling.
Watling also guided the tail-enders to take New Zealand to a comfortable position before they were finally dismissed, sharing 57 runs with Bracewell in a crucial eighth-wicket stand before adding 127 runs with Trent Boult for the last wicket.
‘It was great fun batting with Trent out there,’ said Watling. ‘I thought he played extremely well. He waited for his ball, played some nice shots through the onside.’
‘The plan was to try to get blocks of ten runs at a time, try to weight them down and then just keep going.’
‘We played some good cricket and put them under pressure. I think we played with a lot of patience and we managed to put a good partnership together, which was pretty much needed because I think 400 is pretty much par on that wicket.’
-With New Age input
