Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque said that the win over New Zealand in the first Test is 'unbelievable' and he is eyeing to establish Bangladesh as a formidable Test cricket team.
Ebadot Hossain picked up a six-wicket haul in the second innings as Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by eight wickets in the first Test here at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.
"I can't describe it. It is unbelievable. I couldn't sleep yesterday because of pressure and not knowing what would happen today. It was very important to win this test match. If you see two years back, we didn't play much test cricket. We are keen to improve in test cricket and everyone knows we have to improve," said Mominul Haque after the game ended.
"It was a team performance - batting, bowling, and fielding. All three departments did really well, especially our bowlers. They used the moisture of the first innings to bowl really well and they did the same in the second innings. Batting was really good as well," he added.
The first innings of both teams took majority of the first four days of the test. Kiwis scored 328 runs in the first innings led by Devon Conway's 122-run performance. Bangladesh responded with 458 runs for their stint with the bat, with the score being helped by big performances from Mahmudul Hasan Joy (78), Najmul Hossain Shanto (64), Mominul Haque (88), and Liton Das (86).
New Zealand's second-inning batting efforts crumbled at the hands of a 6-wicket spell by Ebadat Hossain that ultimately meant that the Kiwis could only set a target of 39 runs for Bangladesh to chase down, which they did with ease to earn their first win in New Zealand, first-ever win vs New Zealand, and their first-ever test win against a top-five team in the world.
"It was a disappointing performance from Day 1. The position we were in at lunch time and then on, we simply weren't at our best. We know how we can be with the bat and the ball; it is just a case of trying to doing things for longer. We managed to build partnerships through that first innings but losing 5 for 70 on Day 2 didn't allow us to get to the 400-450 run mark," said New Zealand captain Tom Latham.
"Bangladesh pushed themselves to the front of the game and put us under a lot of pressure through their batting innings... They (Bangladesh) were confident and bowled really well. Full respect to them, they certainly outplayed us through the five days," he added.
The second and final test match will be played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch on January 9 and conclude on January 13.
The test series between New Zealand and Bangladesh will be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video.
( With inputs from ANI )
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