Offspinner Mehedi Hasan has claimed a Bangladesh Test match record of 12-159 with his side securing a first-ever win against England – a comfortable 108-run victory – to level their series 1-1.
Mehedi took 6-77 in the second innings to rip through England, who lost all 10 wickets in Sunday’s post-lunch session in their pursuit of 273 runs to win.
Left arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan complemented his effort with 4-49 with three wickets in four balls to help the side earn the victory inside three days.
“It is a very big achievement in Bangladesh’s Test cricket history,” said Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim.
“It came against a very good England side but there will be a time when we will win a series 2-0 against any big team. This is a start.”
England captain Alastair Cook made 59 and Ben Duckett scored 54 as they kept the side unscathed before lunch, reaching 0-100.
“Very hard. A hundred for none was a really good session. I was really pleased with the way Ben played,” Cook said.
“We possibly showed our inexperience in those conditions, even though I as out there experiencing it – it was amazing the difference before tea and after tea.
“You lose a couple of wickets, then men come round the bat, crowd gets into it – being able to deal with and get through it – you know it doesn’t last forever but that half an hour, 40 minutes is crucial and we just weren’t good enough to be able to get through.”
Mehedi struck with the first ball of the final session, dismissing Duckett with a delivery that kept low.
From there Bangladesh didn’t look back. Only Stokes apart from Cook and Duckett reached double digits as Mehedi and Shakib made inroads at regular intervals.
“From the time we knew England were coming, we planned to make wickets that would help our spinners and trouble the English batsmen. Here our bowlers executed our plans and the batsmen did well too, which made this win possible,” Mushfiqur added.
Shakib Al Hasan removed Joe Root for 1 as Bangladesh spinners used the crack of the pitch perfectly.
Mehedi then picked up Gary Ballance (5) and Moeen Ali (0) in an over but he dealt the biggest blow when Cook poked at a turning delivery.
Cook had survived a video review on 44 against the same bowler and Bangladesh sought a video review unsuccessfully against him when he was on 59.
But minutes after the second review, he lost his concentration and England’s hopes faded with him.
He hit five fours in an innings that lasted two and half hours.
Ben Stokes resisted but Bangladesh’s spinners hardly gave England’s batsmen any space to breathe, bowling with accurate line and length on a pitch that offered plenty of support.
Jonny Bairstow, who rescued England from precarious situations earlier in the series, was unable to repeat the trick, out on 3.
Shakib disturbed Stokes’ stump with a straight delivery and then dismissed Zafar Ansari and Adil Rashid for duck in four balls.
Mehedi fittingly ended the match with the wicket of Steven Finn and to claim five or more wickets in the first two Tests three times. He also eclipsed left arm spinner Enamul Haque Junior’s 18 wickets to be the highest wicket-taker (19) in a series for Bangladesh.
Tanmoy kar
Guest
A little bit of grit and determination Bangladesh could had won both the Tests. England played quite poorly, I wonder what they will do in India!
Custard Cream
Guest
Well-deserved win by the Bangles, but I wish it hadn't been against England!
Pom in Oz
Roar Guru
Disappointed to see England crumble after being 0-100. However, it's great to see the Bangers emerging into a true test nation. They have been promising of late and they certainly deserved their victory...
Pedro the Maroon
Guest
It makes me feel better about our drubbing by the Lankans. The Poms just could not play the straight ball of varying length and dubious bounce. I must say I am unsure who does the complete collapse better - us or the Poms?
Perry Bridge
Guest
Only thing I'd say is seeing how First class cricket has evolved in Sri Lanka compared to the early 80s, yes, it's not overnight, but 30 years on it has established a reasonable base - hopefully the Bangladeshis get their house in sufficient order. Results like this should help.
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
A Few interesting asides Once more, Test cricket is all about the pitches. This pitch was an old style Asian pitch that was in no way unplayable while at the same time challenging. it made for compelling viewing watching the batsmen have to show real skill and temperament as well as a fair bit of daring to prevail. One mistake and they were gone. The bowlers shared the challenge, with them having to bowl to exploit the advantage in the pitch for them rather than merely relying on it to happen. The difference in both Shakib/Mehedi before and after tea was like night and day with them being a tad loose before tea and lethal after when they got their lines correct. Secondly, the ICC must schedule more tests for Bangladesh and crucially teams need to support them by touring and inviting them to tour. They would be road kill away from Asia but are very challenging in Asia. The last point is as an Irish patriot the plight of Bangladesh underlines how challenging test cricket is and how flawed it is to add more teams to it without the structures in place. The first class set up in Bangladesh is shambolic and is part of the issues in their stagnated progress. From an Irish perspective, any calls of them getting test status without a viable first class competition in place or alternatively a stand alone Irish team in County cricket is a recipe for disaster. They are working towards this but until it is properly set up and fully established they need to see the context of their test status pleas
jamesb
Guest
Great win by Bangladesh. They have been threatening to do this for quite a while. When Australia tours there, I reckon Bangladesh will get them.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
What an incredible debut series from 19yo Mehedi. He’s a very gifted batsman too, looks like a superstar in the making. Bangladesh were a whisker from winning this series 2-0, shows how far they’ve come. Next step for them is to prove themselves away from home and they have that chance soon with a series in NZ. England, meanwhile, look on track for a flogging at the hands of India next month. Their batting lineup is a mess and spin options poor, as Cricinfo’s England editor George Dobell wrote today.
Perry Bridge
Guest
And they did it!! And Mehedi Hasan, 19 wkts in first 2 tests, 3 handfuls or better. Best debut since Laxman Sivaramakrishnan!!! And relegated Shakib to a bit part support player.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
What an incredible debut series from 19yo Mehedi. He's a very gifted batsman too, looks like a superstar in the making. Bangladesh were a whisker from winning this series 2-0, shows how far they've come. Next step for them is to prove themselves away from home and they have that chance soon with a series in NZ. England, meanwhile, look on track for a flogging at the hands of India next month. Their batting lineup is a mess and spin options poor, as Cricinfo's England editor George Dobell wrote today.