Friday, October 10 2008 -- Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets in the first One day International at Mirpur that was played on 9 October 2008. This win was very special as it was the first major victory for coach Jamie Siddons as well as the captain Mohammad Ashraful. Ashraful commented, “I am happy we played as a unit. I am elated that it’s the first win against New Zealand and first against any major country under my captaincy.”

New Zealand Innings

Bangladesh won the toss and decided to field. In the first spell, Mashrafe Mortaza had figures of 8 overs, 3 maidens, 19 runs and 3 wickets and he essentially provided a good start for Bangladesh. Further there was some economical bowling by the spinners Shakib Al Hasan, Abdur Razzak and Naeem Islam, the debutant. New Zealand was pushed down to 79 for 6 wickets. Out of the first six batsmen, only Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum were able to reach double figures. However, New Zealand tail-enders batted sensibly and helped their team to reach a total of 201 for 9 wickets. Jacob Oram scored 57 while Daniel Vettori contributed 30.

Bangladesh Innings

The batsmen from Bangladesh did not let their supporters down. The star performer was Junaid Siddique who scored 85 runs in 137 deliveries comprising of 8 boundaries. This was a remarkable performance considering that in the previous 8 One day innings he has accrued just 62. After the match he said “I needed this innings to get my confidence back. My one-day record has been quite ordinary and it was about time I got some runs.” He was ably assisted by Mushfiqur Rahim who scored 30 runs and Ashraful who remained unbeaten on 60.

Ashraful said that “The fielding too was good. I have said this before, if we do well in all three departments then we stand a good chance of being competitive. Today was proof of that.” Next, One day International is scheduled on 11th October 2008.