— Left-arm spinner says after this match they will show us a lot more respect
Left-arm spin bowler Shakib Al Hasan claimed the second 10-wicket haul of his career as Bangladesh sealed a landmark 20-run victory over Australia in the series-opening cricket test on Wednesday.
Bangladesh’s 10th victory in 101 test matches – and its first over Australia in five matches – gave the team a 1-0 lead in the two-match series despite opener David Warner’s century that helped Australia’s early and optimistic chase of 265 runs for victory.
Bangladesh’s win on the fourth day came in the first test the two teams have contested since 2006. A planned tour of Bangladesh by Australia in 2015 was cancelled due to security concerns after an Italian charity worker was shot dead in Dhaka, and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. The loss again highlighted Australia’s historic batting issues on pitches in subcontinental Asia – a 2-1 series loss in India this year came after a 3-0 defeat in Sri Lanka in 2016.
If Bangladesh also wins the second test, starting in Chittagong on Monday, Australia’s test ranking could slide to as low as sixth. Bangladesh has won tests against England, Sri Lanka and Australia in the past year. In the previous 16 years of their test history, the Bangladeshis had defeated only Zimbabwe and a second-string West Indies team affected by a player strike.
“It’s a great feeling, credit to the boys, especially to Shakib,” Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said. In his 50th test but his first against Australia, Shakib confirmed his status as the game’s leading allrounder with match figures of 10-153 to add to his first- innings run total of 84.
Shakib returned figures of 5-85 in the second innings to help Bangladesh bowl out Australia for 244 runs one hour after the lunch break. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam’s 3-60 and offspinner Mehidy Hasan’s 2-80 assisted in the win.
Shakib gave Nathan Lyon a send-off on the first day, while David Warner, Steven Smith and Matthew Wade all reacted to the sledging at different points on the third and fourth day. Warner had to be stopped by Tamim Iqbal while Wade exchanged words with some of the Bangladesh players, including Tamim, after his second innings dismissal.
“Australians are very good at it, we are learning from them,” Shakib said when asked about the verbal volleys. “After this Test match they will show a lot more respect.”
Shakib also felt it didn’t matter if Australia didn’t respect them enough coming into the series. “At home, we believe we can beat any side,” he said. “We had that confidence and the belief came from the last two-three years. Not many have been watching us but we were quietly doing our job.”
Mushfiqur, meanwhile, pointed to Australia’s tactic of slowing down proceedings and even resorting to sledging of their tailenders as a sign of being on the back foot. “They had aggression but we also showed that Bangladesh can be an aggressive side,” he said. “They saw it in our body language, apart from how we did with the bat and ball.
“If you noticed towards the end of the first session, (Glenn) Maxwell tried to ensure that there was no more overs by taking up five of the six minutes. The Australian team were on the back foot, trying not to play an over.
“I thought it is a huge message. Even they talked to our taileneders, to our junior players. They know that an extra run here is crucial. But we also returned them the favour. They found out that we are no longer the Bangladesh of old, that we now have the players who can now change the course of a match from any position.”
Mushfiqur also underlined the importance of not allowing the win to make then complacent. “We should be careful of not becoming too complacent. It is hard to get the Australian team under pressure so we must take the opportunity to win the series.”
Australia was comfortably placed at 158-2 thanks to Warner’s first century on the subcontinent, resuming the day on 109-2 and needing 156 runs on the fourth day. But Shakib got the vital wickets of Warner and captain Steven Smith, who combined for 130 runs, within 13 runs.
Warner hit 112 off 135, including 16 fours and one six, his 19th century before being baffled by delivery that kept low. Smith also was dismissed by a similar delivery which ended his innings of 37, lasting for 99 balls. The crucial two wickets triggered a collapse as Islam joined Shakib to turn the match around.
Islam got Peter Handscomb (15), forcing him to edge to slip where Soumya Sarkar completed a tough catch. Islam then removed Ashton Agar (2) with a return catch before Shakib trapped Matthew Wade (4) in front.
Glenn Maxwell was the final obstacle and Shakib completed his five-wicket performance, disturbing the batsman’s wicket with a delivery that kept low and spun sharply in the first ball after lunch.
Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins combined for 29 runs in a ninth-wicket stand to provide Australia with some hope before Hasan broke through, dismissing Lyon for 12.
Ignoring his side strain which will force him to return injured to Australia and not play in the second test, Josh Hazlewood came in to bat but Islam trapped him leg before wicket to end the match.
“We let ourselves down a bit in the first innings with the bat,” Smith said. “It was quite difficult batting in the second innings here and I thought we did quite well getting 240 in the end.”
