There was a cloak of secrecy surrounding the playing surface at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in the run-up to the first Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee, possibly inspired by the greener practise pitches at Sylhet, stated that he expects a ‘excellent surface’ on the day before the match.
However, the venue’s history paints a different picture, as spinners captured 32 wickets in Zimbabwe’s 151-run victory against Bangladesh in the only previous Test played there in 2018.
The Bangladesh team management also understood what to expect, as evidenced by the fact that they only had one pacer and three spinners on their squad sheet.
From that standpoint, the Tigers started the game perfectly. They won the toss and chose to bat first, seeking to score as many runs as possible and put the visitors under strain.
The openers also set the tone, at least slightly, by negotiating Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson’s early suggestion of swing and movement.
Ajaz Patel, one of three eligible spinners in the Kiwi ranks, was introduced in the seventh over and got the cherry to turn away and compel an outside edge off Mahmudul Hasan Joy with the fourth delivery he bowled, suggesting the turn already available in the surface.
At the end of the day, Bangladesh’s total stands at an uninspiring 310 for nine – a scoreline that further adds to the Tigers’ disappointment.
“We got dismissed playing rash shots,” a contrite Joy stated at the end-of-day news conference yesterday, missing out on his second Test tonne by 14 runs.
Joy’s departure might be attributed more to the bowler than to the batter’s lack of judgement; he was caught at slip off the bowling of leg-spinner Ish Sodhi after a 166-ball 86.
Stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, and Nurul Hasan Sohan, on the other hand, gave away their wickets with average smashes.
Even a part-time spinner like Glenn Phillips, who had zero Test wickets prior to the match, claimed a four-for, demonstrating how the Tigers once again crafted their own batting demise.
Stands of 53 and 88 at the top of the order — between Shanto and Joy for the second wicket and Mominul and Joy for the third wicket, respectively — demonstrate Bangladesh’s reluctance to capitalise on the toss advantage and how their batters tainted strong starts with poor judgement.
“Our goal was to reach 350-380 feet. We couldn’t do it. “However, we have some quality spinners who can hopefully bundle them [New Zealand] out for a lower total,” Joy could only hope after a day that might have gone any way for the Bangladesh batters.