Bangladesh take first Test against New Zealand by 150 runs in memorable triumph in Sylhet | Cricket News

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed a match haul of 10 wickets to bowl Bangladesh to a comprehensive 150-run victory against New Zealand in the opening Test in Sylhet on Saturday.

Chasing 332 for victory on a turning track, New Zealand headed into the final day on a precarious 113-7 against a spin-heavy Bangladesh attack on a dry and turning pitch.

Overnight batter Daryl Mitchell (58) completed his fifty and skipper Tim Southee (34) staged a brief rearguard but Bangladesh needed 90 minutes on the final day to wrap up victory and go 1-0 up in the two-Test series.

It was a memorable win for a depleted Bangladesh side missing several frontline players through injuries, including regular captain Shakib Al Hasan, against a full-strength New Zealand side.

Taijul claimed 6-75 in the second innings and was the obvious choice for the player-of-the-match award.

“We were not thinking about the result, we just followed our process,” stand-in Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said after their first Test win on home soil against New Zealand.

“The job is half done, we still have a long way to go.”

Batting fourth on a turning track in the sub-continent counts among the game’s greatest challenges and New Zealand’s frontline batters failed the trial by spin on Friday.

Only Mitchell had looked assured facing the spinners with a shoal of fielders around his bat and once his slog-sweep against Nayeem Hasan found Taijul at backward square, the game was all but over for New Zealand.

Southee was not prepared to go down with a fight though as he smashed a couple of sixes, while Ish Sodhi (22) also resisted for a while before Taijul removed both.

“Very disappointed, but credit to Bangladesh, they play really well as a side in these conditions,” Southee said afterwards.

“Our bowling group needs to create pressure for longer, batters need to stitch more partnerships, be better for longer.”