Mohammad Ashraful's men proved that when the chips are down, they still have in them what it takes to pull out a victory out of nowhere.
Nobody expected the Tigers to take a 1-0 lead In the three-match series against New Zealand at the Sher-c-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday, but as it always happens, it turned out justright.
The saga of the fourteen players, including several internationals, leaving for the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) hit Bangladesh cricket hard and many predicted that it would take many years to get over the mess. But coach Jamie Siddons agreed after yesterday's seven-wicket win that the entire episode probably did his side a small favour.
"We had the ICL stuff with the changing of several players and a lot of talk and distractions and before that' there was the loss against Australia. But credit goes to the boys," said Siddons, who praised the man brought in for this match to replace one of the ICLrebels.
"The one debutant [Nayeem Islam) did a great job with the ball (10-0-34-0) and was probably our best fielder today. Losing players from the group is never good and I hope that doesn't happen again but the team looked good out there."
The Australian coach hoped that the players learned something from the victory, the type he has always stressed, saying: "I don't want to be a stick in the mud but they learned how to play a type of cricket where they had to bowl, bat and field well to win an international game. Hopefully they learned to do this today."
"It is definitely a big relief and a long time coming. As I said yesterday [Wednesday], I think we are playing good cricket to win. It is as
good a win that I've ever had for Australia and I will definitely have a smile on my face tonight," said the Bangladesh coach.
Siddons spoke highly of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Zunaed Siddiqui but was pleased with his captain, who took his advice on building the innings.
"It was a real captain's knock and I liked how he went about the innings. If [Mohammad] Ashraful or Zunaed [Siddiqui] got out at that stage, we'd have been in trouble," admitted Siddons.
Ashraful was pleased with his own performance, 60 off 56 balls, calling it a memorable moment in his stint as the captain.
"I have always tried to do well and I will continue try doing as well as 1 can. It is definitely a memorable time for me as a captain and I am pleased that it was a team performance," said the ace batsman.
"We started off very well with Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza] providing it and all'the bowlers contributing. And definitely it was a good toss to win," he added.
But days such as this are rare and Ashraful's time as the leader has been full of questions with the number of losses piling up. But the man himself wasn't ready to say that this innings probably saved his captaincy.
"My problem was always my performance with the bat. It was not my field placings or bowling changes. I am enjoying the time and I have the players' support," said Ashraful.
His opposite number acknowledged that Bangladesh were the better team on the day but also said that the overhead conditions played its part.
"Obviously you have to give credit to Bangladesh. They played well. They won the toss on conditions that suited the bowlers and they made the most of it.
"But when you are 60-5, you are up against it. We recovered reasonably well with Oram's innings but
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