But when many thought that a defeat could be more painful than their Ashes surrender in July last year, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting found no reason to take the issue into his account.

"It is hypothetical to think about what could have happened because we didn't lose the game," said Ponting, who led from the front with an unbeaten 118 to rescue his side from final embarrassment against the Tigers, with an ambiguous smile at a post-match briefing.

The 31-year-old Aussie skipper however admitted that the hard-fought victory against the home side brought more relief than joy.

"Yes, probably right (more relief than joy after you have avoided an embarrassing defeat). It was a very good Test match win," said Ponting, who smashed his 31st hundred in 104 Tests.

Ponting agreed that Bangla-desh's performance was beyond their expectation but he issued a warning that they will come hard on the home team in the second Test match at Chittagong that starts from April 16.

"Bangladesh played better than what I expected from them, they should be pretty happy. If we are well-prepared for the next Test, they won't be able to make this sort of a total against us anymore. We want to be physically and mentally right to face it in Chittagong," warned Ponting.

"We were really surprised by their first day performance because 355 runs in a day was simply outstanding. Actually Bangladesh had the better of play in the first two days. (Shahriar) Nafees played a sensational knock and it was a very good Test match hundred (138)," he said.

He also said Bangladesh has the ability to give any team in the world a tough time.

"They played excellent cricket in the match and they proved that they are an improving side and they can trouble any team in the world. I think Bangladesh can take inspiration from the performance of this Test," he opined.

He also explained the reasons for his side's bad performance in the first two days.

"We were a long way off. A lot of our bowlers felt the pinch on the first day. But you saw that how quickly we learnt from our mistakes and that is the strength of this team. We were behind in the match but our team manages to get ourselves out of trouble more times than other teams in the world," he said.

"This game was a prime example of that and at the end of the match, we did just enough to win the Test match. We turned a poor bowling performance in the first innings to a great one in the second innings," he added.

Ponting said that they had to work hard to be successful on the fifth and final day.

"On the fifth day of the Test match, you have to bat for long periods to make runs. It wasn't an easy wicket to bat on in the last day. I thought we adjusted really well. But it was satisfying to be at the end to see the team through. It was a satisfying effort for us as a team."

"I was trying to do the best that I could. We had a really good platform with Matthew Hayden and myself with that partnership. Even after all those wickets fell, I knew that Lee, Jason and Clark were good with the bat and if I was around, we could finish it," he said.