‘70% hopeful of winning’

17-year-old Afghanistan opener Ibrahim Zadran was agonisingly close to smashing a maiden Test hundred on debut before being dismissed for a well-made 87 that helped his side take a commanding position against Bangladesh after the third day of the one-off Test in Chattogram yesterday.

Afghanistan go into the fourth day at the at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium with a huge lead of 374 runs after ending the third day on 237 for 8 and the visitors are certainly sensing a historic win.

Although forecasts suggest there is a high possibility of rain over the next two days in Chittagong, Ibrahim said the visitors could not control the weather, adding that they were 70 per cent hopeful of winning the Test match.

“They played only 64 overs in the first innings so we hope to get them out again as well. We cannot say anything about the weather but the conditions are definitely changing. It is raining sometimes, and it is cloudy at times. We are 70 percent hopeful of winning the game,’’ he added.

The right-hander had impressive outings in Bangladesh in July this year, scoring 209 runs for Afghanistan A in their four-day games and helping his side win the series 1-0.

“Having played in Bangladesh a month ago, I had information about the conditions here. This is why I played well. We had a good camp in Abu Dhabi as well as the two-day match in Chattogram. So, with good preparation and the result from that game, we were hopeful of playing well,” he added.

Ibrahim said that their aim was to get a 400-run lead as he feels it will be difficult for the hosts to reach that in the fourth innings.