After a 15-month Test match hiatus, and a two-year wait for any Test victory, Bangladesh must feel desperately unfortunate not to make history at Chittagong this week.
With English media focussing on Alastair Cook’s record-equalling appearance and captaincy total, not to mention Ben Duckett’s debut, a defeat to the home side wasn’t really on the radar. And yet Mushfiqur Rahim’s side were a mere 23 runs away from their first victory against one of the top Test sides in 16 years of trying.
Conditions proved England correct in going for a triple spin attack. I’m not sure whether Gareth Batty fully deserved his recall after an 11-year absence. After all, I and my Somerset colleagues will never forget his disgraceful on-field antics against us a few years back. Nevertheless, the 39 year-old played his part.
I can’t remember a Test where spinners opened the attack from at least one end in every innings. The English trio of Batty, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid collectively picked up twelve wickets, while Bangladesh’s four slowies shared sixteen between them. 18 year-old debutant Mehedi Hasan took the early plaudits with 6-80, yet the Man of the Match award deservedly went to Ben Stokes.
He had the knack of rescuing England whenever the match seemed to ebbing away. When Bangladesh threatened to take a first innings lead, he mopped up with 4-26. When 63-5, he and Bairstow put on 127, the Durham all-rounder top-scoring with 85. Finally, on that final morning flurry, it was inevitably Stokes who captured the last two tailenders in three balls to break Bangla hearts. It was particularly hard on Sabbir Rahman. His careful half-century had given Bangladesh every chance of snatching that elusive success but it wasn’t to be; he was left stranded on 64 not out
For all Bangladesh’s dismal record at the highest level, this was their narrowest defeat yet and the first time they had ever taken all 20 wickets against anyone other than Zimbabwe or a second-string West Indies. It all added up to an excellent Test match. No innings of 300+, yet the game continued into a fifth day (just) and produced a thrilling finale for the few who bothered to attend. There was great spin bowling yet decisive contributions from the quick reverse swing merchants. OK, so the endless referrals were a pain for everyone except Moeen Ali, but in most other aspects it was an entertaining and exciting contest.
Roll on, Dhaka!
