Bangladesh maul England

Bangladesh fans clambered on to rooftops overlooking the Mirpur stadium in a brave effort to glimpse history in the making and also witness an England batting line up humbled by a teenager.
Mehedi Hasan was an unknown outside of Bangladesh before this series. But his 19 wickets in two Tests, including a match-winning six for 77, delivered his country a first ever Test win over serious opposition after 16 years of trying and left England spirits broken. 
Mehedi’s emergence and his team’s new found self-belief means that losing a Test in Bangladesh is no longer the humiliation it used to be. Long gone are the days when an Australian nightwatchman could smack a double-century here. But if the result can be understood in the context of a tour played on wickedly turning pitches, the manner of England’s surrender cannot be so easily accepted.
To lose 10 wickets for only 64 runs in 22.3 overs was the result of panic sweeping through the camp as the batting failures of the past couple of years finally caught up with them. At some point the lower order had to crumble under the strain. Aside from the openers who had given England such a great platform at tea, only Ben Stokes reached double figures and four batsmen were out for nought in an astonishing passage of play in the final session on October 30.
Bangladesh’s victory by 108 runs was well deserved and they will feel they should have won the series 2-0, having lost their nerve in Chittagong when on top. 
They will point to the statistics. Tamim Iqbal scored the only century of the series. Bangladesh’s spinners all averaged better than England’s most successful slow bowler, Moeen Ali. They were also more economical than any of England’s spinners. If it had not been for Stokes’s remarkable 11 wickets for 111 runs in the series on spinning pitches, England would have been in desperate trouble. No wonder Cook later rued a lack of “world-class spin” in his team.
Gary Ballance will be the fall guy for the batting. He failed to reach double figures in four innings and holed out horribly as the collapse started to take hold. Ben Duckett’s blistering half-century between lunch and tea was brilliantly audacious but also creates a headache. It makes England less likely to want to change the top order meaning no place for Haseeb Hameed so Jos Buttler looks the favourite to take Ballance’s place in the middle order.
A madcap final day of the series started with England suffering a horrible morning that saw four catches go down and stuff-ups over reviews. Stokes was at the centre of the action incurring a telling off and a subsequent fine from the match referee for sledging Sabbir Rahman, a sign of the frustration building as the target grew. But Bangladesh struggled to hold their composure as well. Batsmen slogged and Rashid picked up four for 52, but that should not hide the fact England’s leg spinner was a luxury they could not afford and had lost the faith of his captain.
Bangladesh had still set England what would be their highest ever run chase in Asia, but the target of 273 looked gettable as Duckett showed character. After three low scores he could have retreated into his shell like Ballance but he took the attack to Bangladesh.
Duckett played like a batsmen from the new generation. He hit two reverse sweeps for four in the second over, forgetting the risk and simply hitting the ball as if playing a T20.
He was dropped on 12 at slip but his onslaught drained Bangladesh of confidence. Cook benefitted from Duckett’s offensive as plenty of bad balls were punished and the fifty partnership took only 76 balls. Duckett brought up his fifty off 60 balls and at tea England were 100 for no wicket and cruising.
But then came tea. First ball after the break Duckett’s footwork was non-existent and he was bowled as Mehedi fired in a quicker ball. Suddenly Bangladesh were a different team. Joe Root lasted only two balls when he was pinned lbw by a straight one from Shakib. Ballance played a horrible swipe against the spin and England were dealt a massive blow when Cook, playing in front of his pad to avoid lbw, popped a catch to silly point for 59.
Moeen was beaten by a ball that did not spin, Jonny Bairstow, so often the saviour, was Mehedi’s fifth wicket when he inside edged a catch to leg slip and Stokes’s brief fightback ended when he was bowled by Shakib, who copied the Marlon Samuels wind up of saluting the England allrounder.
The resistance had been broken. Rashid fell lbw first ball, Zafar Ansari survived the hat-trick but was soon gone and last man Steve Finn was given lbw on the back leg. 
A drawn series has probably never been celebrated so wildly but this was a remarkable result for Bangladesh given the fact they had not played Test cricket for 15 months. Forget the security and terrorist threat. England’s tour has been a triumph for cricket. Every match was brilliant to watch and with talented young cricketers such as Mehedi and the Sabbir it would be such a shame if other countries did not follow England’s lead and tour Bangladesh. More results like this await. 

Source: The Telegraph
Photos: Agencies

Bangladesh maul England

Bangladesh fans clambered on to rooftops overlooking the Mirpur stadium in a brave effort to glimpse history in the making and also witness an England batting line up humbled by a teenager. Mehedi Hasan was an unknown outside of Bangladesh before this series. But his 19 wickets in two Tests, including a match-winning six for 77, delivered his country a first ever Test win over serious opposition after 16 years of trying and left England spirits broken. Mehedis emergence and his teams new found self-belief means that losing a Test in Bangladesh is no longer the humiliation it used to be. Long gone are the days when an Australian nightwatchman could smack a double-century here. But if the result can be understood in the context of a tour played on wickedly turning pitches, the manner of Englands surrender cannot be so easily accepted. To lose 10 wickets for only 64 runs in 22.3 overs was the result of panic sweeping through the camp as the batting failures of the past couple of years finally caught up with them. At some point the lower order had to crumble under the strain. Aside from the openers who had given England such a great platform at tea, only Ben Stokes reached double figures and four batsmen were out for nought in an astonishing passage of play in the final session on October 30. Bangladeshs victory by 108 runs was well deserved and they will feel they should have won the series 2-0, having lost their nerve in Chittagong when on top. They will point to the statistics. Tamim Iqbal scored the only century of the series. Bangladeshs spinners all averaged better than Englands most successful slow bowler, Moeen Ali. They were also more economical than any of Englands spinners. If it had not been for Stokess remarkable 11 wickets for 111 runs in the series on spinning pitches, England would have been in desperate trouble. No wonder Cook later rued a lack of world-class spin in his team. Gary Ballance will be the fall guy for the batting. He failed to reach double figures in four innings and holed out horribly as the collapse started to take hold. Ben Ducketts blistering half-century between lunch and tea was brilliantly audacious but also creates a headache. It makes England less likely to want to change the top order meaning no place for Haseeb Hameed so Jos Buttler looks the favourite to take Ballances place in the middle order. A madcap final day of the series started with England suffering a horrible morning that saw four catches go down and stuff-ups over reviews. Stokes was at the centre of the action incurring a telling off and a subsequent fine from the match referee for sledging Sabbir Rahman, a sign of the frustration building as the target grew. But Bangladesh struggled to hold their composure as well. Batsmen slogged and Rashid picked up four for 52, but that should not hide the fact Englands leg spinner was a luxury they could not afford and had lost the faith of his captain. Bangladesh had still set England what would be their highest ever run chase in Asia, but the target of 273 looked gettable as Duckett showed character. After three low scores he could have retreated into his shell like Ballance but he took the attack to Bangladesh. Duckett played like a batsmen from the new generation. He hit two reverse sweeps for four in the second over, forgetting the risk and simply hitting the ball as if playing a T20. He was dropped on 12 at slip but his onslaught drained Bangladesh of confidence. Cook benefitted from Ducketts offensive as plenty of bad balls were punished and the fifty partnership took only 76 balls. Duckett brought up his fifty off 60 balls and at tea England were 100 for no wicket and cruising. But then came tea. First ball after the break Ducketts footwork was non-existent and he was bowled as Mehedi fired in a quicker ball. Suddenly Bangladesh were a different team. Joe Root lasted only two balls when he was pinned lbw by a straight one from Shakib. Ballance played a horrible swipe against the spin and England were dealt a massive blow when Cook, playing in front of his pad to avoid lbw, popped a catch to silly point for 59. Moeen was beaten by a ball that did not spin, Jonny Bairstow, so often the saviour, was Mehedis fifth wicket when he inside edged a catch to leg slip and Stokess brief fightback ended when he was bowled by Shakib, who copied the Marlon Samuels wind up of saluting the England allrounder. The resistance had been broken. Rashid fell lbw first ball, Zafar Ansari survived the hat-trick but was soon gone and last man Steve Finn was given lbw on the back leg. A drawn series has probably never been celebrated so wildly but this was a remarkable result for Bangladesh given the fact they had not played Test cricket for 15 months. Forget the security and terrorist threat. Englands tour has been a triumph for cricket. Every match was brilliant to watch and with talented young cricketers such as Mehedi and the Sabbir it would be such a shame if other countries did not follow Englands lead and tour Bangladesh. More results like this await. Source: The Telegraph Photos: Agencies