Bangladesh creates history; wins the series 2-0

By anand
for Cricketain.com

Published: July 21, 2009

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Rahul Bajaj

Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Shakib Al Hasan led from the front yet again with a 96 not out as his side beat the West Indies in the second and final test of the series and clinched the series 2-0 giving them their first ever test series win abroad.

Shakib, who termed this as the biggest thing for the Bangladesh team in the 9 years of their test journey, hit the winning runs in style by hitting a six to seal the win. The win may have come against a weakened West Indian team after the senior players boycotted the series over a pay dispute, but a series win is special nonetheless especially when it’s your first. It was also the first time that Bangladesh won two successive test matches.

Shakib and Raqibul Hasan – who made 65 – both scored their career best scores to successfully chase down the target of 215 as Bangladesh got home with 4 wickets in hand and claimed only their second test series win ever and their first overseas.

The day started with West Indies at 192/8, leading by 197 runs. But they couldn’t extend the lead much and were bowled out for 209 setting Bangladesh a target of 215 to win. Shakib Al Hasan finished with figures of 5-70 with Enamul Haque providing able support and picking up 3-48.

Bangladesh made a steady start to their innings reaching 17 for no loss at lunch. But Roach struck after lunch removing the opener Imrul Kayes caught at slip by Sammy for 8. Darren Sammy then came to the party and gave Bangladesh some nervous times. He first removed Iqbal who was caught behind the wicket for 18 leaving Bangladesh at 29-2. Sammy didn’t stop there and picked up two more wickets – Siddique and Ashraful – to leave Bangladesh struggling at 67-4 with about half an hour to go for the tea break.

At the fall of the fourth wicket, Shakib joined Raqibul at the crease and they matted with great maturity and determination to put Bangladesh on the path of victory by putting on a solid partnership of 106 for the fifth wicket. Raqibul made his first test fifty, reaching the landmark of 74 balls, in what was a gutsy innings by the talented young batsmen. Shakib then reached his fifty when he hit Roach for a boundary, his first of the three in succession in that over.

But Darren Sammy came back to remove Raqibul for 65 with Bangladesh still needing 44 runs to win. Raqibul, who had a forgettable 1st test match, played probably an innings that he will remember for his lifetime, batting for almost 3 hours, hitting eight fours and a six in his 65 that came of 99-balls.

Wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim then joined Shakib and put together another useful partnership before chipping one back to Sammy of his own bowling giving Sammy his 5th wicket of the innings. Bangladesh still needed 14 runs to win the match and Shakib made sure that there were no last minute turnarounds and took Bangladesh safely over the edge. Shakib finished with 96 not out including 13 fours in his effortless innings. Sammy picked up 5-55 in 16 overs for the West Indies but it wasn’t enough to save the test for the hosts.

After the match an elated Shakib said, “In our nine years, this is the biggest thing that has happened to Bangladesh cricket.”

Shakib who was also named the Man of the Match for his brilliant all round performance went on to add, “This series victory will give a boost to our confidence, and will help to take us to the next level, and with God’s help, we shall go forward.”

“There was not too much pressure on us (on Monday), since the boys have been playing really, really well. It was a good victory.”

On the other hand, West Indies captain, Floyd Reifer said that they had a good chance of winning the match inspite of not having enough runs on the board.

“We had a good opportunity to win the game in the second innings, but we did not bat too well,” said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer.”We always knew we needed around 280 runs to have a fighting chance to win the game and we fell way short.”

“It is pretty difficult to defend a victory target of 215. All they needed was one good partnership to have a good chance. But I felt Sammy bowled well, and our guys tried very hard, but it was a tough game.”

About the frailty of West Indies’ batsmen against spin, he said: “In our domestic first-class competition, the spinners get the most wickets every year. This is something we will have to examine closely as players, as coaches, and try to work out the best way to play spin bowling.”

“There are many positives we can take away from the Tests, and take into the One-day International series, so we shall be positive and look to win the ODI series.”

Shakib Al Hasan was also named the Man of the Series for leading from the front throughout the series and his brilliant all round performances especially in the second test where he picked up 8 wickets in the match while also scoring a match winning 96 not out in the second innings.

With Bangladesh finally winning abroad, although against a weakened team, it’s still a big day in the history of Bangladesh cricket and hopefully this series win will give them the much needed encouragement that they need to start believing in themselves and end their era as the underdogs!

Scores:

Bangladesh 232 (Rahim 48, Raqibul 44, Roach 6-48) and 217 for 6 (Shakib 96*, Raqibul 65, Sammy 5-55) beat West Indies 237 (Dowlin 95, Richards 69) and 209 (Bernard 69, Shakib 5-70) by four wickets

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One Comment on "Bangladesh creates history; wins the series 2-0"

  1. Bangladesh creates history; wins the series 2-0 | Cricketain.com on Tue, 21st Jul 2009 10:54 pm 

    [...] series and clinched the series 2-0 giving them their first ever test … Original post: Bangladesh creates history; wins the series 2-0 | Cricketain.com Posted in Bangladesh | Tags: against-the-mighty, and-clinched, and-final, beat-the, [...]




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