Looking from a distance it appeared the 22-year-old was about to shed tears as emotion got the best of him with Bangladesh only a wicket away from recording their first Test victory.

His feelings at that very moment epitomised the pulse of an expectant father waiting for the delivery of a newborn. And it came soon afterwards when Mohammad Ashraful gleefully accepted a simple bat-pad offer from Zimbabwe's last man Christopher Mpofu at silly point off the bowling of Enamul Haque, who perhaps was the only Bangladeshi on the field showing no nerves.

The whole MA Aziz Stadium erupted in a chorus of noise and Habibul Bashar's men started a victory lap that the cricket-crazy nation had to wait for four years and two months.

And when the hysterical mid-pitch celebrations ended and the boys of Dav Whatmore caught their breath, there was only one statement on their lips -- "IT IS THE BEST DAY OF OUR LIVES".

"It's a dream come true for us," said Mashrafee in tears of joy.

"I got angry when I could not get any wicket in the morning. But I calmed down after taking the wickets of Chigumbura and Nkala after lunch. We have finally done it," the 'Narail Express' added.

Mohammad Rafique can count himself very lucky because he is one of the two players in the squad who was part of Bangladesh's first one-day victory against Kenya and today's historic 226-run Test triumph over Zimbabwe.

"I was there (at Hyderabad in 1998) when we won our first one-day match and I am here now too. It's a great feeling and I think there is no looking back now," said the champion left-arm spinner of the country.

For Bashar, it was simply the best day of his life but Whatmore found it hard to separate his World Cup winning moment as coach of Sri Lanka and the Test victory of the Tigers.

"I am thankful to all those who helped me to come this far in my career. I am just happy to be a member of this team. Nothing is more important, even being captain of the side," said Bashar who led from the front with a pair of half centuries (94 and 55) in Bangladesh's 35th Test.

"I was in total blankness when the match was over. I can't remember what happened during those three or four minutes. We have been working hard for this and at last the victory has come. I give credit to all my teammates. It's tough when you are losing, especially for the captain. But the job looks easier now for me with this win."

The 32-year-old Bashar showered all praises to Enamul for his heroics on the final day.

"Enamul is an outstanding bowler. He was a bit tense in the first innings but came back strongly later to show his potential."

While reflecting on the early morning assault by the Zimba-bweans, Bashar said he was never worried.

"They started well in the morning and I knew we needed one or two wickets to take control. We had a superb first innings with everybody contributing to the cause. We had good partnerships, good bowling, a unique team effort. Besides, the fielding was outstanding on the final day."

Whatmore said that he was extremely happy to be a part of history again after masterminding Sri Lanka's World Cup triumph in 1996.

"Being a part of history is something great. The relation between me and Habibul is good, it serves the team," Whatmore said.

"It was very satisfying. Everyone was expecting us to win and it did not come easily. Even the condition of the wicket did not help much. But my boys have showed a great team spirit," added the 50-year-old who is in second year as Bangladesh's mentor.

"It's nice to have a youngster like Enamul in the side beside Rafique. Enamul is different to Rafique but they do compliment each other well."

On the other hand Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu was obviously downcast after putting up a good fight in the first innings.

"It's disappointing. I thought we had the ability to win the Test match. It was a bit of bad cricket from our side and good cricket by the Bangladeshis.

"We have to clean up the things we did badly before the Dhaka Test. And obviously we are going to continue with the things we did well. Hope we would be able to win the second Test and come back," said the 21-year-old wicketkeeper.