Unnerved Bangladesh roar like tigers

Bangladesh was awarded the status of the Test Playing nation around two decades back on 26 June 2000. However, their journey has been far from perfect as they only managed to win three out of the first 78 Test matches played.

In the recent past, things have started to improve in the five-day format as the Tigers now have 16 Test wins to their name in 127 attempts.

Their most recent triumph was perhaps the most surprising one and the one which will be celebrated for a long time.

Out of nowhere, the struggling Bangladesh team secured an eight-wicket victory over world champions New Zealand.

The victory is Bangladesh’s first against the Kiwis in 16 matches where they lost 12 and drawn three, including nine routs on New Zealand pitches

Starting with the historical victory against the hosts, let’s look at four of the recent chronicles of Bangladesh in Test cricket.

The historic win against Black Caps

Bangladesh pulled off a crushing eight-wicket victory over world champions New Zealand at Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.

The tourists needed only 40 runs in their second innings for the historic win, their first-ever in New Zealand, and only their sixth in 61 away Tests.

The match was wrapped up in one session on the final day as Ebadot Hossain took a career-best six for 46 and New Zealand were rolled in their second innings for 169.

It was a “David and Goliath” result, with Bangladesh ranked ninth in the world while world Test champions New Zealand are second.

It was New Zealand’s first loss in 16 home Tests over the past four years. With that victory, the Tigers have become the first Asian team to win a Test match in New Zealand after Pakistan, who defeated Kiwis in 2011 in Hamilton.

Bangladesh have previously lost all 32 matches played in New Zealand across all formats, including nine Tests, and they arrived to start this tour following back-to-back losses at home to Pakistan.

But they attacked this Test with confidence and apart from a 138-run second-wicket stand by Devon Conway and Will Young in New Zealand’s first innings, the tourists have largely been in control.

After New Zealand were dismissed for 328 in their first innings, Mominul Haque (88) led Bangladesh to 478, a 130-run lead on a pitch that stayed true and did not have the usual bias towards fast bowlers regularly seen on New Zealand wickets.

Then the canny reading of the game by bowling coach Ottis Gibson, Bangladesh only needed 73.4 overs to knock over New Zealand in their second innings.

Gibson had noted the Bay Oval wicket was not delivering slip catches, which are common in New Zealand conditions, and he called for wicket-to-wicket bowling.

“It’s different to how New Zealand bowl, they didn’t bowl to length, they went short. That’s their tactic, it works for them,” he said. “(Neil) Wagner’s very good at it, but we’re different, we try to bowl at the stumps a lot more and it’s pleasing to see that it worked for us. Maybe the New Zealand batters underestimated us. The discipline we’ve shown is fantastic.”

Ebadot relished the instruction and produced by far his best bowling figures.

He removed first-innings centurion Devon Conway for 13, and in a quick burst claimed Will Young (69) along with Henry Nicholls and Tom Blundell without scoring.

On Wednesday morning, he accounted for Ross Taylor (40) and Kyle Jamieson (0), while Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan mopped up the tail.

With Mahmudul Hasan Joy requiring stitches to a split hand, Najmul Hossain Shanto was promoted to the opener and contributed 17 to the winning run chase.

Shadman Islam was out for three while the not-out batsmen were captain Mominul Haque on 13 and Mushfiqur Rahim on five.

An ecstatic Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque was lost for words at his side’s shock eight-wicket win.

“I can’t describe it. It’s an unbelievable thing,” Mominul, who was not out 13, said after hugging Mushfiqur and waving to the Bangladesh team and support staff.

It was not only a boost for Bangladesh cricket but it also severely dented New Zealand’s hopes of retaining their world Test crown.

In one of cricket’s biggest upsets, Bangladesh arrived in New Zealand on the back of a 2-0 home series loss to Pakistan and less than seven months since New Zealand had won the World Test Championship by beating India in the final in England.

New Zealand, 130 behind after the first innings, were only 17 runs in front at stumps on day four with five wickets remaining, but Mominul said he refused to contemplate victory until it happened.

“Honestly, I couldn’t sleep yesterday because of the pressure and I didn’t know what will happen today,” he said, adding that after poor preparation for the tour, Bangladesh had deliberately not focused on winning, or on New Zealand, but on executing their plans.

Victory by an innings and 184 runs against West Indies

Bangladesh hosted West Indies in November and December 2018 which was the first full tour of the Caribbean Giants since December 2012.

The Tigers clinched the two-match series by winning both matches. They won the opening encounter by 64 runs which was their first home victory against the Windies.

They also managed to win the second Test that too by a huge margin of an innings and 184 runs.

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat in the second Test and they went on to score a mammoth total of 508 runs in the first innings.

In reply, West Indies only managed to score a nelson in the first innings and was asked to bat again. However, nothing much was changed and they can only go on to score 213 in the second innings.

This was the first instance where Bangladesh enforced the follow-on in Test cricket.

Mehedi Hasan took the best match figures by a Bangladesh bowler in Tests (12/117).

Interestingly, all of the 40 wickets of the visitors in the series were bagged by Bangladesh’s spinners which made them the first team to win a two-match Test series with the help of spinners only.

Defeating the Aussies

Back in 2017 in the two-match Test series, Bangladesh managed to secure their maiden Test victory against Australia at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.

Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan led the way by giving Nathan Lyon a send-off while Tamim Iqbal and others were involved in brief altercations with the Australians as Bangladesh staved off a late Pat Cummins assault to claim a thrilling 20-run victory.

“Australians are very good at it, we are learning from them,” Shakib, whose all-around brilliance with bat and ball earned him the man of the match honours, expressed himself after the match. “After this Test match, they will show a lot more respect.”

The then captain Musfiqur Rahim discussed that these experiences will count a lot.

“These wins will help us become confident,” he said. “When we face similar situations, we can handle them better. They (Australia) showed aggression in the series but at the same time they also realized how aggressive Bangladesh can be, not only while playing but also in our body language.”

Mushfiqur claimed Australia´s predicament was evident when Glenn Maxwell indulged in a bit of time-wasting to avoid facing an extra over before lunch on Wednesday.

“A team like Australia, who always try to dominate the opposition, were not willing to play an extra over before the break. That´s a big statement,” he said.

Former captain Habibul Bashar hailed the role of Shakib and opening batter Tamim. He called them role models for young cricketers in the country.

“These two players are a class apart because of their ambition to be compared to the best players in the world,” Bashar told Daily Star newspaper back in 2017. “Their hunger for success is unmatchable and they have developed a professional mindset which separates the current generation of cricketers from previous cricketers.”

However, Australia went on to win the second Test and the series was drawn by 1-1.

Levelling the series with The Three Lions

England visited Bangladesh in 2016 for a two-match Test series in which the home team suffered a heartbreaking 22-run defeat in the opening Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong

However, an exceptional spin bowling performance from teenage sensation Mehedi Hasan Miraz supported by the experienced Shakib Al Hasan helped the Tigers in clinching a historic 108-run win over the visitors.

England were on course for a 273-run chase and a century stand between the opening batters Alastair Cook and Ben Duckett put the side in a comfortable position.

However, after the tea break on Day 3, the then 19-year-old Miraz tripped apart the England top order before Shakib grabbed three wickets in an over to put the Tigers on the brink of an epic win.

Miraz then picked out Steven Finn with an LBW to seal the victory in three days and finished with 6/77 in the second innings.

A total of 17 wickets fell on the third day of the second Test and 10 of them were in the final session.

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