Bangladesh had a decent day, says Taijul

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed Bangladesh had a decent first day as Afghanistan were kept under 300 runs despite the batting friendly conditions at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium Thursday.

Bangladesh were anticipating a turning track having decided to go in with a spin-heavy playing XI. 

The host were however, left frustrated as the deck had very little to offer, and saw the opposition batters bat with ease to post 271 runs losing five wickets in 96 overs.

There was an occasion when Bangladesh looked to be in control of the game, when Taijul removed the two Afghan openers in the span of around 10 overs. 

But Afghanistan saw off the scare riding on some sensible batting from Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan.

@BCBtigers left-arm spinner Taijul Islam emerged as the quickest bowler to reach 100 Test wickets for his country.https://t.co/C5DVYIHM2u#BCBTIGERS #BANGLADESHCRICKET #BANGLADESH #CRICKET #TAIJUL #ISLAM #BCB #TIGERS #BCBTIGERS #TAIJULISLAM #AFGHANISTANCRICKET #ACB #AFGHANISTAN

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) September 5, 2019

“I don’t think the game was beyond our expectation,” Taijul told reporters Thursday. 

“The wicket is easy to bat on. Let’s say, if it had unpredictable turn, they would have played cautiously and we might have gotten a few more wickets,” he added.

Taijul believes if the wicket had been favorable, Bangladesh could have been in a better position.

It is widely reported that the home side wanted to make the best use of the home advantage with a tailored deck assisting the spinners. 

But this was a mission gone wrong, at least on day one.

The first time it happened was in the previous game, against the @windiescricket, at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium last yearhttps://t.co/m7DQhNBE8Q#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS #BANGLADESH #CRICKET #BANGLADESHCRICKET #AFGHANISTAN #AFGHANISTANCRICKET #ACB #CWI #WINDIES

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) September 5, 2019

“The bowlers bowled the way the wicket behaved. We could have done a bit better but not that they would have been all out. Given the way the wicket behaved, I think five wickets on the board is fine. They had the option to do better. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if they had scored more than 300,” said Taijul.

Taijul bagged two wickets and with his first, he emerged as the quickest Bangladeshi to reach 100 wickets. 

Taijul took 25 Test matches to reach the feat and surpassed the previous best, of Shakib al Hasan. 

Bangladesh Test captain Shakib took 28 games to reach the milestone.

“Test cricket gets the most respect and I am happy to have achieved this feat. Anyone would have been happy being in this place,” said Taijul.

ONLY TEST, DAY 1

AFGHANISTAN 1ST INNINGS        R    B

Ibrahim c Mahmudullah b Taijul     21    69

Ihsanullah b Taijul             9    36

Rahmat c Soumya b Nayeem         102    187

Shahidi c Soumya b Mahmudullah    14    32

Asghar not out            88    160

Nabi b Nayeem             0    3

Afsar not out                35    90

Extras (lb 1, nb 1)            2 

Total (96 Overs)            271/5 

Fall Of Wickets

1-19 (Ihsanullah), 2-48 (Ibrahim), 3-77 (Shahidi), 4-197 (Rahmat), 5-197 (Nabi)

Bowling

Taijul 31-4-73-2, Shakib 17-1-50-0, Miraz 22-4-59-0, Nayeem 13-0-43-2, Mahmudullah 4-0-9-1, Soumya 4-0-26-0, Mominul 4-0-9-0, Mosaddek 1-0-1-0