NZ vs BAN: People Would Label Me As A Lunatic If I Said That We Were Aiming For Test Win Against New Zealand: Mominul Haque

Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque said that his team’s historic victory against New Zealand was unbelievable.

Bangladesh outplayed the Tom Latham-led New Zealand in the first Test at the Bay Oval as they defeated them by eight wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series.

This was their first-ever win in New Zealand across all formats as the Asian side have played 32 matches (nine Tests, 16 ODIs and seven T20Is) prior to the Bay Oval Test in New Zealand and have lost all those games.

It was also Bangladesh’s first win in a SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) nation after 22 attempts in these countries.

We didn’t think about winning the Test match at all: Mominul Haque

Mominul himself was stunned to win the game against the Black Caps as he said that his side didn’t think about winning it.

“I can’t describe it, it’s unbelievable. I couldn’t sleep yesterday because of the pressure. To be honest, we didn’t think about winning the Test match at all. People would label me as a lunatic if I said that we were aiming for a win,” Mominul told reporters after his side’s historic victory.

“It was very important to win this Test match. Two years ago, we didn’t play that much Test cricket, so we were keen to improve,” he added.

New Zealand posted 328 in the first innings as left-handed batter Devon Conway scored 122 along with Henry Nicholls’ 75.

Bangladesh picked a convincing lead of 130 runs as Mahmudul Hasan Joy (78), Liton Das (86) and Mominul himself scored brisk half-centuries in the first innings.

The plan was that we cannot leak runs while going for the wickets: Mominul Haque

Bangladesh pacer Ebadot Hossain bowled a magnificent spell of 6/46 to curtail New Zealand’s lead to 49 runs as Bangladesh chased it within 16.5 overs to script their monumental win against the Black Caps.

Mominul said that their plan was to bowl in an excellent manner and not concede enough runs. The Bangladesh captain appreciated his teammates for their stupendous efforts on the field.

“I think it was a team performance, we did very well in all three departments. Our bowlers used the moisture really well, and the batters did really well too. I said previously that we need to win these Test matches for our legacy,” Mominul said.

“I just told the bowlers that we need to bowl like the way we did on the fourth day and we will not go for the wickets. You can say that if we don’t go for wickets then how will we get them out?”

“The plan was that we cannot leak runs while going for the wickets. We just wanted to put pressure on them and if the result comes, it is fine,” he added.

Bangladesh will play the second Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, the match commences on January 9.

Also Read: NZ vs BAN: “Our Win Will Inspire The Next Generation” Bangladesh Pacer Ebadot Hossain After Beating Kiwis