It would have been Bangladesh’s historic win on their home soil against England. But, temperament has made the difference. Bangladesh started their last day with 33 runs needed, failed to reach and lost their two wickets within 10 runs. Ben Stokes took the last two wickets in three balls as England won the first Test by 22 runs.
Ben Stokes was declared the Man of the Match. He grabbed his six wickets and 85 runs in the second innings. Ben is happy with this performance but, he still thinks his team needs long way to go as far as performing in the subcontinent is concern.
“We knew it would be either myself, Stuart Broad, or Chris Woakes to bowl, the amount it was reverse-swinging, but we had the option of the new ball as well.The tour has started well, but we have a long winter ahead . I am happy that I chipped in with both bat and ball, I didn’t want to give my wicket away,” Ben said.
This England pacer feels that bowling on subcontinental tracks is the challenge. “Started off pretty well but we have a long way to go from here. Hopefully, we would want to perform on a more consistent basis. I’ve had to adapt, with men around the bat, just make sure you don’t give your wicket away and still play your shots. It’s all in the training we do, making sure when we get out on the field that our bodies are used to the conditions,” he told.
Alastair Cook, England captain is a happy person after the thrilling win. “It was a really good Test match, to think we were here on day five with that wicket. It was such a tight game, so credit to both sides as it was a difficult wicket. I’m glad we held our nerve, the quality we have in our attack, we got it reversing. It is not only just with the ball in hand but the way he batted, he balances the side. Those cricketers don’t come around very often and he’s got an enormous heart as well. He is a seriously good cricketer, who is handy in any team,” he said.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said, “ “It was probably not in our favour (33 runs and two wickets), but the boys put in so much effort over the last five day, after 15 months, I’m really proud. They scored 240 in the second innings, if we’d managed to get 290 in our first innings, it would have brought it down. Our boys fought it out which is really impressive and hopefully, we’ll do the same in the next match.”