That was the reason Bangladesh team left the field holding their heads high despite the defeat on the thrilling fifth and final day against the mighty Australians.

Habibul Bashar's boys came tantalisingly close to pulling off Test cricket's biggest upset to date but Australia captain Ricky Ponting dashed their hopes with an unbeaten 118 runs which revived memories of Bangladesh's Multan Test where Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq (138 not out) did almost a replica during the third Test in 2003 to manage a one-wicket victory.

"I think the situation was more difficult here than the Test match in Pakistan. Pakistan had a very vulnerable tail whereas it was not the case for the Australians and the condition was also altogether a different one. And mind it, the opponent's name is Australia," said Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar at a post-match briefing yesterday.

The 33-year old Tigers skipper said that there was every reason for them to be excited with their performance in the first Test match.

"I am sure that nobody expected before the start of the series that a Test match can finish in such a way. The way we started and then finished the match I must say it was a moral victory for us. I am very, very happy with my teams performance," he said.

"Although we didn't win, we pushed them to the last day and it was a good Test match for us in all ways. We dominated two days of play and we took more out of it although in the end they won," said excited Bashar.

He heaped praise on his counterpart to take the game away from them.

"Credit goes to Australia for coming back so strongly. Maybe this is why they are the best team in the world. Even though we did badly in the second innings, I would say that they did equally good. Ricky's batting was the turning point. He took the game away from us," he explained.

Bashar pointed at the second innings failure as the reason to losing the way in the match but hoped it will be solved soon.

"Our habit of failing in the second innings after a good showing in the first innings is going to go away pretty soon. The more we create such situations, the better we will fare. We get situations like this after long gaps. But nowadays we are creating such situations. Maybe it will take a little more time now for us to get a good second innings score to push the teams," he opined.

Replying to a question, he said that they have never been tense during the absorbing five days.

"Even I slept well last night. We actually tried to take it easy so that we didn't feel much pressure. We tried to isolate ourselves from the outside world and told each other that this is the standard we are going to believe in. We are not doing something unusual. We have the merit to perform like this," said Bashar.

He was also not ready to accept that Mashrafee Bin Mortuza let down his side chance to make history.

"If he had taken it we could have seen a different situation. But I must say he tried hard and you all know that he is a whole-hearted cricketer. Mashrafee is also very disappointed. Everyone is contributing in this team and that is very important. But we needed to convert half-chances to win Test matches," he defended.