Mushfiqur hails 'outstanding' Shakib after Tigers take down Australia

Dhaka, August 30: Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim reserved special praise for Shakib Al Hasan, whose stunning performance earned the Tigers a maiden Test win over Australia in thrilling fashion.

All-rounder Shakib made 84 in the first innings in Dhaka, before claiming five-wicket hauls in each of Australia's knocks.

Set 265 for victory, the tourists fell to an agonising 20-run defeat on day four as Bangladesh celebrated a historic triumph in jubilant fashion.

David Warner's 112 gave Australia genuine hope of taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, but he was pinned lbw by Shakib to start the tourists' demise from 158-2 to 199-8.

"It's a great feeling beating Australia, especially Shakib and Tamim [Iqbal, who scored 71 and 78] were outstanding," Mushfiqur said.

"The performance has been consistent. Our spinners - Taijul [Islam] and Shakib - were brilliant. There is a lot of room for improvement. With 150 runs [on the board] and eight wickets to take, the boys showed character.

"Hopefully, in the next Test we will come harder and seal the series."

"It was a great Test match," added beaten captain Steve Smith. "Credit to Bangladesh the way they played in the first innings. We fought back after the Tamim-Shakib partnership.

"We let ourselves down in the first innings. I thought it was pretty difficult to bat in the second innings. The tail helped the batters around - no excuses for us. The wicket spun from the first day, as I said we let ourselves down with the bat in the first innings.

"Warner has worked very hard, he played particularly well to score a hundred. It is one of those wickets where you are never really in. We were not able to stick to our game plan as long as we could in the first innings.

"We're looking forward to the second game in Chittagong."

Source: OPTA