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Second-innings resistance shows glimpses of potential from Bangladesh

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Roar Guru
4th March, 2019
9

If only Mominul Haque hadn’t lost his wicket on the stroke of lunch, Bangladesh would’ve scored 350-plus.

If only Soumya Sarkar didn’t drop Tom Latham on zero, our bowlers would’ve done better. But screw the if-only crap and get straight to the point – New Zealand have outplayed Bangladesh in all aspects of the first Test match in Hamilton.

Sent in to bat on a flat track, opener Tamim Iqbal scored a quality ton, yet no-one bar Shadman Islam and Liton Das showed any sort of application as Bangladesh were bowled out for an under-par 234, with Neil Wagner bouncing his way to a five-wicket haul. You know that Wagner will look to bounce you out, yet only Tamim Iqbal had a plan to counter him by moving across his stumps. The rest just took the easy option and looked to play strokes rather than bat time, as shown in their dismissals.

Things didn’t get easier watching it as a Bangladesh fan. Our quicks toiled to no avail. Mehedi Hasan was harshly exposed outside of the Subcontinent, and only Soumya Sarkar had respectable bowling figures, with 2-68 off 21 overs as the Black Caps declared their way to 6-715.

The second innings started brightly for us but the bad old habits crept in as Bangladesh slumped to 4-124 despite an 88-run opening stand. Finally, for the first time in the tour of NZ, the batsmen showed some fight. Captain Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar put on a 237 run stand, scoring 146 and 149 respectively while holding off a bodyline-type barrage from the Kiwi quicks and fighting fire with ice. Despite losing the match by an innings, the stand proved that Bangladesh can compete against New Zealand at least with the bat.

Mahmudullah has now got three Test centuries in his last four Test matches – two as captain in Shakib Al Hasan’s absence. Four Tests ago he had only one Test century. It’s funny what leadership can do to a player. He’s led from the front with the bat and he’s reaping the rewards. Hopefully he doesn’t have to come into a crisis again – hopefully the top order actually do their job.

Soumya Sarkar wasn’t even in the Test squad originally – he was drafted in as cover following the injury of Mushfiqur Rahim. An average of 26 before this Test with a few flashy 50s showed there was potential but not a high price on his wicket. However, in Hamilton he has shown he can restrain himself from his natural game for a period of time and bat time as well. I’m sure taking two wickets and bowling tightly gave him confidence before he walked out to bat in the second innings and I hope he’s used more often as a fifth bowling option in overseas conditions, which will do him and Bangladesh cricket some good.

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I feel for our pacers. The three showed aggression and toiled but poor fielding let them down. I hope their confidence doesn’t deter from this performance and that they are hungry come the second Test on Friday. I’m worried about Mehedi Hasan. On his second tour of New Zealand he seems to not have learnt from his previous tour two years ago. He was completely wayward and leaked runs consistently, something spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi won’t be pleased with.

I’m not even thinking of a win come Friday. But let’s take heart from Soumya, Mahmudullah and Tamim’s innings and apply ourselves in Wellington. This three-Test series will give us the exposure Bangladesh cricket needs and maybe this series will make us finally change how our first-class cricket is run.

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First-Test stats

  1. Mahmudullah has now got two Test tons each at two grounds – Hamilton (both against New Zealand) and Dhaka (Zimbabwe and West Indies);
  2. This was Soumya Sarkar’s maiden Test ton. He scored his first international half-century on the same ground against New Zealand in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup;
  3. 6-715 is New Zealand’s highest Test score; and
  4. Mehedi Hasan holds the worst figures by a Bangladesh bowler now (2-246)

My XI for the second Test

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  1. Tamim Iqbal
  2. Shadman Islam
  3. Mominul Haque
  4. Mushfiqur Rahim
  5. Soumya Sarkar
  6. Mahmudullah (captain)
  7. Liton Das (wicketkeeper)
  8. Nayeem Hasan
  9. Abu Jayed
  10. Khaled Ahmed
  11. Mustafizur Rahman.
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