Markram backing Proteas to fire on all cylinders in series decider

Skipper calls on charges to keep good vibes and energy high

Proteas opening batter Aiden Markram believes the squad have all the tools to come away with a victory when they take on Bangladesh in the second Dutch Bangla Bank Test in Chattogram on Tuesday
IN FOCUS: Proteas opening batter Aiden Markram believes the squad have all the tools to come away with a victory when they take on Bangladesh in the second Dutch Bangla Bank Test in Chattogram on Tuesday
Image: DANIEL PRENTICE/GALLO IMAGES

Proteas stand-in Test skipper Aiden Markram has warned there will be no letting up as his team take on a determined Bangladesh outfit in the second Test in Chattogram from Tuesday (6am).

With regular skipper Temba Bavuma still recovering from an injury picked up before the series, Markram led SA to a comfortable seven-wicket victory, their first on the subcontinent in a decade, in the first encounter in Mirpur last week.

While their previous two encounters on the subcontinent ended in a stalemate, historical evidence shows SA have had the rub of the green playing against their Asian counterparts, winning 13 of the of the last 15 Test matches.

With the top six batters not necessarily performing to their potential, scoring just 97 runs in the first innings and then 106 between them in their two innings, Markram said they needed to believe in themselves.

“Each batter needs to back their strengths and find ways to put the Bangladesh bowlers under pressure, which could make run-scoring a little bit easier and free-flowing,” Markram said.

“We have to assess how the wicket plays and then look at our options.

“Ultimately all we can do as players is back our strengths and options and then hope it’s your day.

“The top six are hungry to contribute, as was evident in our discussions recently, so hopefully starting tomorrow [Tuesday] we can put our best foot forward.”

With a sense of relief after breaking the decade-long winless run in Asia, Markram called on his charges to bring a similar energy to the second clash of the series.

“As people say, a good side finds ways to win consecutively and that’s been our drive coming into this Test, so hopefully we can put in another good performance.

“We always appreciate the opposition we go up against and even more so with Bangladesh in their conditions.

“It will be a tough game for sure but hopefully we can back it up by keeping the good vibes and the energy high,” he said.

Needing to win four from their next five Tests, four back in SA, a triumph against the Tigers can further strengthen their bid to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final which will be contested from June 11 to 15 at Lord’s Cricket Ground in England.

“I don’t think it adds any extra pressure on us [for this Test], it is just an exciting opportunity that could be and that is how we are trying to view it,” he said.

“You still need to win a lot of the remaining games of cricket and we have five left until we know our fate.

“Five Test matches mean there is a lot of cricket still to be played.

“If we can go session by session and game by game, we then give ourselves the best chance.”

HeraldLIVE


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