Since their maiden Test in November 2000, against neighbours India in Dhaka, Bangladesh had been desperate to step out of the shadows. They had their moments in limited-overs cricket, such as putting it past India in the 2007 World Cup and advancing beyond the first stage, and making the quarterfinal of the 2015 edition in Australia and New Zealand, but in Test cricket, they still had some strides to make.
In 2009, they did defeat West Indies 2-0, but that was a second-string team, at best, with a pay dispute involving the players and the West Indies board leaving the one-mighty Caribbeans scrambling to put 11 men on the park. Bangladesh’s cricket-mad fans were not beginning to lose patience with their heroes, but they needed something in return from a team they so loved and adored.
They got their return gift on this day in 2016. It was the scheduled third day of the second and final Test of a two-match series against England. Mehidy Hasan, the off-spinner, ensured it would be the last day with a stunning post-tea spell that bamboozled the visitors.
Bangladesh were a little unlucky to be 0-1 down after running England close in the first Test in Chittagong, and must have fancied their chances when they set England a target of 273, not exactly a walk in the park in the fourth innings in any Test in Asia. England made a fantastic, positive start by reaching 100 without loss in 23 overs at tea, experienced captain Alastair Cook and Ben Duckett leading the charge of the left-handers.
One is not sure what was served at tea, but on resumption, Hasan was a transformed man. The Bangladesh fans had started to despair when Hasan settled their fears with the first ball on resumption, a flatter, quicker non-spinning ball crashing through Duckett’s feeble defence. That set in motion a crazy passage of play. England lost 10 for 64 in 135 deliveries after tea, the last four for the addition of three runs. When they were bowled out for 164, Bangladesh had their biggest scalp in Test cricket following their 108-run victory. Hasan was the star of the show with six for 77, left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan finished with four for 49.
