NZ v BAN: Records galore as Bangladesh clinch maiden Test win over New Zealand
Bangladesh rewrote the history books as they defeated New Zealand in the first NZ v BAN Test of the two-match series in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday (January 5). The Asian dark horses pulled off arguably their greatest ever cricketing triumph, winning a Test in New Zealand for the first time and breaking their longstanding losing streak on Kiwi soil.
In a scenario that nobody, not even Bangladesh’s die-hard fans, would’ve anticipated, Bangladesh dominated the defending World Test Championship (WTC) winners in their own den over the course of five days and came out victorious.
The tourists opted to bowl first after winning the toss and dismissed the Kiwis for scores of 328 and 169, making 458 and 42/2 of their own on either side of that to wrap up what will be a win savoured for the generations to follow.
In a victory for the ages, Bangladesh were pulled to ascendancy by their encouraging pace battery and inexperienced but talented batting unit. Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam bagged three-fers in either innings but what truly stood out is the exceptional spell bowled in the second half by Ebadot Hossain, who finished with figures of 6/46 and earned the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
In the batting department, skipper Mominul Haque led from the front and scored a brilliant 88. Wicketkeeper-batter Liton Das also played a pivotal knock of 86. Either side of Haque and Das, half-centuries from Mahmudul Hasan Joy (78), Najmul Hossain Shanto (64) and a crucial lower-order hand from Mehidy Hasan propelled Bangladesh past 450 against New Zealand’s greatest-ever pace battery.
Bangladesh clinched their maiden Test win over New Zealand. *pic courtesy: Twitter/ICC)
All records broken by Bangladesh after Test win in Mt Maunganui
With their victory, Bangladesh bagged a number of records to their name, apart from the unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match series and 12 points in the new cycle of the WTC. Here is a list of those records:
1. The win at the Bay Oval was Bangladesh’s first win in international cricket against New Zealand in New Zealand. They broke an all-format losing streak of 9 Tests, 16 ODIs, and 7 T20Is.
2. It was Bangladesh’s first Test win over New Zealand in 16 attempts. They had lost 12 of their previous 15 Tests, including ones at home, against the Kiwis.
3. It was Bangladesh’s first away Test win against a side ranked top 5 as per the ICC Test rankings. Bangladesh have previously won away fixtures against Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe but not with those sides placed in the upper tier of the Test rankings.
4. The win over New Zealand was only Bangladesh’s sixth Test victory away from home in 60 matches. Bangladesh had lost 50 of their previous 59 Tests outside Bangladesh before the Bay Oval win.
5. By taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, they also broke New Zealand’s winning streak of eight Test series in home conditions.
6. The Bangla Tigers further broke New Zealand’s 17-Test-long undefeated streak on home soil. The previous instance when New Zealand lost a home Test came against South Africa back in March 2017.
7. Bangladesh’s win was the first instance of an Asian side defeating New Zealand in New Zealand in Tests since January 2011 when Pakistan beat the home side.