Didn’t let excitement get the better of us

Skipper Mominul Haque believed that the collective effort and the desire to win were the primary ingredients behind Bangladesh's historic maiden Test victory against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.

Mominul's knock of 88 runs in the first innings was crucial for the Tigers' total of 458 in the first innings. The captain credited all of his teammates for the team spirit shown throughout the match. "It was all teamwork, everyone was keen to win this match. Everyone contributed in all departments," the skipper said, whose side lead the two-Test series 1-0. "We won because of our bowlers. They bowled in the right areas and tried to follow the process as well. "Ebadot [Hossain] was unbelievable. Outstanding effort! Taskin [Ahmed] and Shoriful [Islam] contained runs all throughout, Miraz bowled on a wicket where it's difficult to make the ball turn, but he bowled really well," Mominul added as he went on to praise his batters. "New Zealand seamers are very dangerous with the new ball. But the way Shadman [Islam] and [Mahmudul Hasan] Joy handled them was outstanding. It was only the second match for the youngster [Joy] but it's the sign of great things to come from him. "Miraz's 47-run knock was vital for us to post the total. Instead of focusing on the runs, we tried to extend the innings as much as possible," informed Mominul.  

Mominul had a hard time sleeping last night ahead of the final day. Asked about when the Tigers started to believe that they could turn the match in their favour, the skipper first mentioned about following the process. "It's difficult to predict victory against a team like New Zealand. We tried to play according to our process. We targeted batting for a long period of time and also followed the process with the ball. "But when Ebadot gave us the breakthrough yesterday [Tuesday], we started to believe the match could go in our favour, and when we bundled them out in the morning, we believed even more. But you see, we tried to be composed and didn't let the excitement get the better of us" the captain said. "I'll be very honest when I returned to my room last night I couldn't sleep at all thinking that the match may go either way. But the message was very simple in the morning: we will not bowl for those five wickets, rather we will continue to follow the process, bowling at the right place, setting the field right," Mominul informed.

Mominul is proud of how his troops were able to bounce back following the Test series defeat against Pakistan at home last December. He looks forward to keeping the momentum going in the second Test at Christchurch. "We didn't play well the last couple of times in the Test matches here. Today I want to forget this but we have to look forward to the Christchurch match as well. Today's victory is the sign that we can improve a lot in the future." Mominul concluded.