Dhaka, July 14: Bangladeshi cricket fans braved monsoon rains to stage an early hours celebration, after the national side beat the West Indies to notch up only their second Test win and the first on foreign soil.
Four years and six months after they beat Zimbabwe at home in a Test match, Bangladesh sealed their second victory when they defeated a makeshift West Indies side by 95 runs at Kingstown, St Vincent.
Soon after the match ended at about 3:00 am local time (2000 GMT Monday), hundreds took to the streets to celebrate the victory despite the driving rain.
“Even though there was a heavy downpour, we turned out on the streets to celebrate the joyous occasion,” said university student Faozul Kabir. “Such an easy win for Bangladesh was unexpected.”
The victory missed newspaper print deadlines for Tuesday but online news sites were abuzz in the cricket-mad nation, and singled out debutant off-spinner Mahmudullah for special praise.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was swamped by phone calls, text messages and emails congratulating the team, board director Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu said.
“We have been receiving so many good wishes from Bangladeshis all over the world,” said Lipu, who is a former captain.
“We are celebrating at the BCB too. It’s such a great victory for the team at a time when there was a lot of public pressure over the captaincy.”
Fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza was named as captain just before the team’s departure, replacing Mohammad Ashraful, who was sacked after the side’s first-round exit from the World Twenty20 in England.
Mortaza, however, spent the entire West Indies second innings off the field nursing a knee injury.
The home team were forced to field a second-string side after 13 players, including captain Chris Gayle, boycotted the opening Test because of a contract dispute with the West Indies board.
Bangladesh now lead the two-Test series 1-0 with the final match set to start on Friday in Grenada.
The Test series will be followed by three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match.
–Agencies–