Aim is to bowl New Zealand out in the first hour on Day 5: Liton Das

Bangladesh’s Liton Das admitted that chasing won’t be easy on the final day, and revealed that his side will be aiming to take the remaining five New Zealand wickets in the first hour of Day 5. 

The Tigers were written off even before the series started, but against all odds, they are in pole position to win the first Test at Bay Oval, with the Kiwis having just a 17-run lead with just five wickets remaining.

Liton revealed that Bangladesh are following the process and are, thus far, keeping the head cool.

''This is very simple that tomorrow is a new morning. The wicket will not be easy tomorrow. The wicket is changing day after day. We will try our best to dismiss them in the first hour and chase the remaining runs. And it will not be easy to chase. We are keeping our head cool,'' Liton told reporters on Tuesday, reported Cricbuzz.

''We are going through a process. We were successful with this process so far and I hope it will continue.”

Bangladesh bowled exceptionally well on Day 4, but one thing they were guilty of was not utilizing review properly. Remarkably, inside the first 40 overs of New Zealand’s second innings, the Tigers burnt all their reviews, two of them being comically bad ones.

Liton, however, quashed suggestions that his side took the reviews out of over-excitement.

''We were not over-excited at all. When we took the first review, I thought from behind the stumps that it's clearly out but eventually we lost the review,'' said Liton.

''Sometimes you will succeed in the review sometimes you will lose. Miraz was confident to take the second review and we all backed him because that is our duty.

''Many things I cannot hear from behind the stumps. The last review, Taskin was very sure that ball hit the boot (against Taylor) and even though I could not understand from behind the stumps we were eager to take another wicket and that's why we took the risk.”

Pacer Ebadot Hossain entered the first with a bowling average of 81.54, having taken 11 wickets in 13 innings, but on the fourth day he bowled the spell of a lifetime, taking four crucial wickets to bring the hosts to their knees.

Liton said that Ebadot’s showing on Day 4 indicated why every player should be given at least 15-17 Tests before being written off, and used his own Test career as example.

"I didn't start well in my international career. None of us in the current setup are doing that well too. So you have to give the players enough chance. We also have to consider that Bangladesh plays Tests not so frequently. So he doesn't get to play regularly. Fast bowlers don't have everything under their control.

"Sure, he has a high bowling average but he showed his ability today. I am hopeful that he will keep proving himself in the future too. This is only his 11th Test. A cricketer needs 15-17 Tests to understand the game. We should give him a bit of time,'' he added.