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Tigers sniff trouble at stumps

Bangladesh end day 1 on 34-2 after bowling Ireland out for 214
Staff Correspondent
05 Apr 2023 00:00:00 | Update: 04 Apr 2023 22:49:30
Tigers sniff trouble at stumps
Bangladesh batter Tamim Iqbal (C) walks back after being dismissed on the final ball of the first day of their one-off Test against Ireland in Dhaka on Tuesday – BCB Photo

The day seemed to have gone very well for Bangladesh. They had bowled out Ireland for 214 and had 10 overs to cut off a chunk from that.

That all changed in those 10 overs.

Najmul Hossain Shanto inside-edged an inswinger from Mark Adair in the first over, and in the final delivery of the innings, Tamim Iqbal prodded forward and edged one to gully off Andy McBrine to see himself caught.

What seemed like an innocuous total, now looks like a tricky one for the Tigers as they still trail by 180 runs, and the pitch has started to spin, which was evident in the delivery that Tamim got out on.

Taijul Islam, who had been the star performer for Bangladesh on the first day with his 11th five-wicket haul, said they would need a big stand to make a turnaround.

“The moment that those wickets fall, we are kind of like on the backfoot or could be there. But it is important to come back from here. If you want to give them a good score, you need a big partnership here,” the left-arm spinner said in the post-day press conference.

Ireland’s star performer of the day, Harry Tector, who picked up his maiden Test fifty on his debut on Tuesday, was ecstatic with how the day ended.

“It was huge (Tamim’s wicket). It was unbelievable. I think it makes the day a bit more even. We are shy with the bat but getting two wickets tonight is huge. It gives us a lot of momentum for us tomorrow. I think that dismissal in particular, the way the ball spun, is a good sign for us on this wicket. It was amazing,” he said.

Tector, one of the six Test debutants Ireland had in this one-off Test, was the only one to reach 50 among a pretty subpar batting effort.

They went in to bat after winning the toss and Shoriful Islam trapped Murray Commins (5) LBW in the fifth over. Then, James McCollum (15) was caught at second slip off Ebadot Hossain’s bowling before skipper Andy Balbirnie (16) was out LBW trying to sweep Taijul.

From there, Tector and Curtis Campher added 70 runs for the fourth wicket, their highest of the innings. Tector reached his 50 off 80 balls, an innings that had six fours and a six. And then, a sharp-turning delivery from Mehidy Hasan Miraz saw his stumps rattled.

Taijul then got rid of Peter Moor (1) and Curtis Campher (34), and then McBrine was sent back with a short delivery by Ebadot (19).

From there, the last three Irish wickets pricked Bangladesh a bit as they added 55 runs, which saw them go beyond 200.

Taijul took two of those, while Miraz took the other.

The surprise of the Bangladesh bowling effort was Shakib Al Hasan. The highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh bowled only three overs on the day and did not come to bowl until the 66th over. And the crowd, which did not even have a thousand people, made a noise when the all-rounder finally came to bowl. However, Shakib did not do it for long, and without any fruit.

And then, when Bangladesh thought of finishing the day off with a good vibe and a reachable total in sight, it changed as the Tigers now sniff danger.

Mominul Haque is on 12 at one end, and he will be joined by either Shakib or Mushfiqur Rahim tomorrow morning. Bangladesh will hope that whichever it is, the experienced pair can make it big tomorrow like Taijul expected, and get Bangladesh to a good total, which can shift the balance of the match clearly towards them.

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