Batting collapses have become a regular occurrence and we need to rectify it, says Steve Smith

Nathan Lyon was once again the wrecker-in-chief with the ball as he ended with figures of 13/154. This was also the second best match figures by a visiting bowler in Asia.

Australia won the second Test at Chittagong by 7 wickets. (Source: AP)

The two-match Test series between Australia and Bangladesh ended at 1-1 after the visitors secured a seven wicket win on day 4 at Chittagong. Nathan Lyon was once again the wrecker-in-chief with the ball as he ended with figures of 13/154. This was also the second best match figures by a visiting bowler in Asia.

After the win, a visibly pleased, Australian captain, Steve Smith said, “I thought we played some good cricket at times in this Test match. The first innings, our bowling to restrict them to what we did was a real good effort. Lyon took 22 wickets in this series and that’s incredible, it was a good wicket and there wasn’t much for him. We could have taken a bigger lead in the first innings but credit to Bangladesh, they really made us fight in this series.”

However, Smith was critical of the batting collapses that his team had suffered and after pointing it out, he said, “For us, the batting collapses have become a regular occurrence and it is something we need to rectify. We get ourselves in good positions and cannot go on with it. It is nice to get to a 1-1 draw. The conditions here are a bit different to what we are going to get back home; we know the conditions back home for the Ashes pretty well.”

Lauding the performances of his bowlers, he said, “Pat Cummins cranked it up today which is a great sign for us. Davey Warner was exceptional in the second innings in Dhaka and out here as well. Handscomb too was excellent too and that partnership set up the game for us.”

Meanwhile, opposition skipper Musfiqur Rahim credited the Australians and said, ” Australia are a strong side and we knew that they would come back hard.

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