Taijul Islam’s five-fer helped Bangladesh dismiss Ireland for 214 on the first day of the one-off Test in Dhaka. Ireland was playing their first Test match in over four years, and despite opening with an eleven that included seven debutants, they were able to dismiss Bangladesh’s openers before the game was over.
After Ireland lost both of their openers within the first 10 overs, James McCollom didn’t survive long either as he edged a wide delivery to second slip. In order to hold the hosts at bay, Harry Tector and Curtis Camphor teamed up after Taijul took the crucial wicket of captain Andy Balbirnie to begin his batting career.
DHAKA: Just before the lunch break, Tector picked off Taijul to score another boundary before taking on Mehidy Hasan to grab a six straight down the ground. When Ireland gradually regained control thanks to a successful stand, Campher smashed one past cover for the first boundary of the session. Tector was able to get a fifty, but Bangladesh struck immediately after the interval to prevent Ireland from dominating the session. Peter Moor played a poor shot to be out in the following over, and Mehidy got one to turn to beat Tector’s inside edge and smash into the stumps.
Once again, Ireland was at a disadvantage as the well-positioned Campher was lbw cornered by Taijul. Before Taijul finished his five-fer, Lorcan Tucker and Mark Adair added crucial runs to push Ireland over the 200-run threshold. After being knocked out for 214, Ireland was optimistic that they could score quickly in the difficult time before stumps. In the very first over, Adair got one to swing back in to remove Najmul Shanto’s inside edge and break the stumps before the lethal Tamim Iqbal edged one to gully to end the day. The hosts are presently 180 runs behind.
