BSS, Chittagong :
Ben Stokes shattered Tiger’s hope as he claimed two final Bangladesh’s wickets to enable England to register an exciting 22 runs victory in the first Test of the fifth and final day at Zahir Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here.
Bangladesh began the day needing 33 runs for a historic win but the Tiger’s Sabbir Rahman made a tactical blunder by allowing number 10 batsmen Tajual Islam too much strike early in the overs.
Ben Stokes trapped Taijul leg before wicket went far off the wicket while a direct review saw Taijul was out for a fighting 16 runs and Shafiul Islam trying to be too cautious offered no stroke to an incoming Ben Stokes same over and Umpire Dharmasena raised his finger nailing the finger in Bangladesh coffin. Sadly Sabbir remain stranded at the wrong end to remain unbeaten on 64.
Probably he made a very big tactical blunder whereas he should have taken the strike and tries to score runs quickly but his overzealous faith paid the price.
Bangladesh were brilliant throughout the five days with incredible efforts with bat and ball and can considered themselves unlucky not to win this match.
Ben Stokes was named the player of the match for his impressive bowling performance.
After the match Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim said, “Probably it was not in our favour, 33 runs and two wickets, but the boys put in so much effort over the last five days, after 15 months, I’m really proud.”
“They scored 240 in the second innings, if we’d managed to get 290 in our first innings, it would have brought it [the target] down. Our boys fought it out which is really impressive and hopefully we’ll do the same in the next match.”
“Sabbir has been outstanding in the last one-and-a-half years. I thought it was a good track, it was spinning but not unplayable. Hopefully we can come up with some good plans. If you want to play in the subcontinent, it should be that way and we have some good spinners.”
England captain Alastair Cook said: “It was a really good Test match, to think we were here on day five with that wicket. It was such a tight game, so credit to both sides.”
“I’m glad we held our nerve, the quality we have in our attack, we got it reversing. We also had the option of the new ball, which we could use with the spinners. It would have been a gamble but it was quite hard to bat against the new ball.”
“It was a great match and we want to thanks our loyal 10-15 supporters up there. [Stokes?] Not just ball in hand but the way he batted, he balances the side. Those cricketers don’t come around very often and he’s got an enormous heart as well.”
“A seriously good cricketer. [Spinners performed?] Part of a seven-Test odyssey, I thought we did okay. They’ll do well for the experience – they bowled some absolute Jaffa’s as well. You are tested in so many different ways, that’s why I keep saying how good Test cricket is.”
The match-winner, Ben Stokes said: “We knew it would be either myself, Broady, or Woakesy to bowl, the amount it was reverse-swinging, but we had the option of the new ball as well.
“[Sub continental challenge?] Started off pretty well but we have a long way to go from here, hopefully want to perform on a more consistent basis. I’ve had to adapt, with men around the bat, just make sure you don’t give your wicket away and still play your shots.”
The second and final Test between the two sides will begin on October 28 in Dhaka.
