GEORGE DOBELL IN BARBADOS: On the day of his maiden Test wickets, the Lancashire seamer insists the tourists will be pushing hard for victory at Kensington Oval despite an unresponsive pitch showing little sign of changing
Saqib Mahmood insists England can still win the second Test in Barbados despite a flat pitch which shows few signs of deteriorating.
The Lancashire seamer, who claimed his first Test wickets on the fourth day as a reward for his sustained efforts in heartbreaking conditions, accepted it was unlikely England would run through the hosts' batting line-up on the final day but reasoned that the pressure of the situation could be a factor.
England go into the final day with a lead of 136 and hopes of declaring early enough on the final day to give them a chance of bowling West Indies out.
But, having taken 187.5 overs to bowl them out in the first innings, it looks like an unlikely scenario.
“Pressure can do funny things to people,” he said. “It doesn’t look like the sort of wicket where you can run through a team.
"But if we put the ball in the right area, there were a few that misbehaved today. It's just a case of having that more often. If we do get a chance to put some pressure on, you never know what can happen.
Mahmood thought he has his maiden Test wicket on day three, but was adjudged to have overstepped when bowling Jermaine Blackwood (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Despite the hard work, Mahmood said the experience had only increased his desire to play Test cricket.
“This is the kind of day you play for when there's nothing going on and it's hard work for bowlers,” he added. “You want to be the guy the captain throws the ball to, to break partnerships and take wickets. That's the stuff I get satisfaction from.
“On green seamers, every seamer feels in the game, but on ones like this, I really want to be a guy who can stand up and break a partnership. It's been hard work but that’s why we play the game.
“Some of the boys said it was one of the harder ones [pitches]. It was like diving in the deep end. But I just wanted to make sure I stayed disciplined throughout. I think later on in the day on days like today it is easy to fall away a bit.
“To win would be amazing. I've got my head around putting the bowling boots back on and trying to take 10 wickets. If we can do that tomorrow we'll have forgotten about all that hard graft in the first innings because it would mean a hell of a lot for all of us.”
The highlight of the day was his maiden wicket, which came when Jason Holder tried to hit him over the top but instead sent the ball high into the sky.
Matt Fisher, at mid-on, appeared to have misjudged the chance as the ball wobbled around in the fierce breeze, but ultimately took a fine catch.
It came as something of a relief for Mahmood as he had sent what he thought had been his maiden wicket, that of centurion Jermain Blackwood, struck down the previous day after it transpired he had overstepped.
"We have to be tight as a bowling unit and make it hard for England to score. The pitch is quite similar to yesterday. It’s not changed much."
“I’m relieved more than anything,” he said. “I felt like criminal No.1 [after the no-ball]; the biggest criminal out here last night. When I got that one today I had a little check to make sure there were no dramas or anything.
“It felt like that ball was in the air forever. I had a bit of a blind spot so I wasn't sure if he'd caught it or not. As soon as he did the first thing I did was look at the umpire just to make sure. It was a great catch.”
Kraigg Brathwaite also had reason to look back with pride after his 11-hour epic century took West Indies to within 96-runs of England’s first-innings total. And he said he was looking forward to batting again on the final day.
“I look forward to batting again,” he said. “It’s still a decent pitch. The new ball is getting some grip and movement off the pitch but I look forward to getting my next knock.
“We’ll just play and see what happens. We have to be tight as a bowling unit and make it hard for England to score. The pitch is quite similar to yesterday. It’s not changed much. The new ball is the hardest part. The soft ball is a lot easier off the surface.
Kraigg Brathwaite will prove another tough obstacle in England's pursuit of victory (Randy Brooks/Getty Images)
The innings was extra special for Brathwaite as his mother was watching him play, he claimed, for the first time at any level.
“It’s probably the first time she has ever watched me play a cricket game,” he said. “My father used to play cricket and bat for long periods.
“Scoring runs as an opener is always a great feeling. I’m happy to get a hundred here at home with my family here.”
Both Brathwaite and Mahmood agreed that Jack Leach, who bowled 69.5 overs in the innings, had performed admirably in testing conditions.
“I thought he was superb,” Brathwaite said. “Probably out of all those balls, I could count how many short balls he bowled so I was defending on the front foot a lot. Even if he didn’t get five wickets, the pressure he created was a superb effort.”
Mahmood agreed. “I thought he bowled unbelievably well,” he said. “I thought he was very unlucky, we sat down at lunch or tea they were showing [on TV] a bit of a highlights reel on him, and the number of times he beat the outside edge, he was unlucky not to get more.
“I was glad he got three in the end because he deserved it. He was constantly changing ends as well, and people don’t realize how much the breeze has an effect, so he bowled unbelievably well and to keep going with the amount of overs he bowled as well was a great effort.”
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