The first Test match between England and Bangladesh was an enthralling one both teams played their best in this match. As England kicked off proceedings first as they were batting, the Bangladeshi bowlers did not make life easy for the England batsman at all. They were scoring the runs but wickets were falling at regular intervals. The Bangladeshi bowler Miraz had a great time bowling to the England batsman he was having a fabulous time, he grabbed six of the England wickets and was very happy with his performance in the first innings. Root, Ali and Bairstow were the main batsman for England in the first innings to score the runs, they ensured England were at decent first innings total as they were all out for 293 runs.
When it came time for Bangladesh to bat, they performed decently with their opener Iqbal being the top scorer for them. Mahmudullah, Rahim and Hasan were the other batsman who chipped with the runs. Bangladesh didn’t though perform well enough to get a lead on England’s total of 293 runs they found themselves all out for 248 runs. Stokes was bowling really well and he grabbed four wickets and Ali finished with 3 wickets between all of the England bowlers they had tight control of the game to ensure Bangladesh were not getting ahead in this game. Bangladesh were not going to go down without a fight though, their fighting spirit has always been one of their biggest strengths, and with England back in the batting zone it was time for Bangladesh gain some advantage in this game.
In England’s second innings they found themselves in trouble quite quickly as they lost their top order batsman very cheaply, and half of the team was back in the pavilion. It was Stokes who stood up and delivered for the team. His partnership with Bairstow made a huge difference in this second innings as Bangladesh were in control of the game, but Stokes made sure the tables were turned around and back in England’s favour.
Bangladesh had a task on their hands when they came into bat, but they were fighting hard especially Rahman he was the standout batsman for Bangladesh. He kept the game alive for Bangladesh he really did his level best. It had come down to the final day of the Test match England needed two wickets, Bangladesh needed 33 runs to win this match. Stokes once again struck he grabbed the two final wickets, and Bangladesh lost the match by 22 runs. It was a spirited effort by Bangladesh, and they can take away a lot from this game and come back stronger in the second Test match.
Post match presentation credit (Cricinfo)
Presentations time, starting with Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim: “Probably it was not in our favour, 33 runs and two wickets, but the boys put in so much effort over the last five day, 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: “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 jaffas 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, is named Man of the Match: “We knew it would be either myself, Broady, or Woakesy to bowl, the amount it was reverse-swinging, but we had he option of the new ball as well. [Subcontinental 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. [Tough conditions] It’s all in the training we do, making sure when we get out on the field that our bodies are used to the conditions.”