SYLHET: Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed a match haul of 10 wickets to bowl Bangladesh to a comprehensive 150-run victory against New Zealand in the opening Test in Sylhet on Saturday, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Chasing 332 for victory on a turning track, New Zealand headed into the final day on a precarious 113-7 against a spin-heavy Bangladesh attack on a dry and turning pitch.
Overnight batter Daryl Mitchell (58) completed his fifty and skipper Tim Southee (34) staged a brief rearguard but Bangladesh needed 90 minutes on the final day to wrap up their first Test win on home soil against New Zealand.
It was a memorable win for a depleted Bangladesh side missing several frontline players through injuries, including regular captain Shakib Al Hasan, against a full-strength New Zealand side.
Taijul claimed the last two wickets to finish with 6-75, adding to his 4-109 in the first innings, and was the obvious choice for the player-of-the-match award.
“Credit goes to all the players, especially Taijul, Nayeem [Hasan], Shoriful [Islam], and Mehidy [Hasan],” said Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who became the fourth Bangladesh captain to win his first match in charge.
“Everyone enjoyed this match. We weren’t thinking about the result, we just followed our process,” Najmul, who scored a century in the second innings, said in the post-match presentation. “The job is half done, we still have a long way to go.”
Batting fourth on a turning track in the sub-continent counts among the game’s greatest challenges and New Zealand’s frontline batters failed the trial by spin on Friday.
Only Mitchell had looked assured facing the spinners with a shoal of fielders around his bat and once his slog-sweep against off-spinner Nayeem Hasan found Taijul at backward square, the game was all but over for New Zealand.
Southee and Ish Sodhi (22) entertained the sparse crowd with some counterpunches, putting on 46 runs for the ninth wicket in quick time, the highest partnership for New Zealand in the innings.
But the runs came too late to have an impact on the outcome, as Taijul claimed the wickets of both in the space of four overs.
Southee was caught by Zakir Hasan at midwicket after making 34 off 24 balls, including a four and two sixes.
Taijul brought the curtain down on an entertaining contest soon after, when Sodhi gloved a catch to Zakir at silly point.
It earned Bangladesh their second Test victory against New Zealand, with the first coming at Mount Maunganui in January 2022.
“Very disappointed, but credit to Bangladesh, they play really well as a side in these conditions,” Southee said afterwards. “Our bowling group needs to create pressure for longer, batters need to stitch more partnerships, be better for longer.”
The final Test begins in Mirpur on Wednesday. The two-match series is the beginning of a new cycle in the World Test Championship for both teams.
Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2023
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