Bangladesh lost their first four wickets inside 15 overs but an unbroken stand of 87 between Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah put them back in control before rain ended the game after 31 overs.
"It is different to what we are used to early on and it was not easy, but as the ball got older and softer the ball was coming nicely onto the bat," said Shakib who was captaining the team in place of Mashrafe Mortaza, who was serving a one-game suspension.
Tamim Iqbal's hopes of scoring the first century of the series were cut short by the rain when he was 64 not out, having hit eight boundaries but Shakib was impressed by his batting as the opener led his side's recovery after losing four wickets for 70.
"Tamim played beautifully," said Shakib. "He applied himself really well and so did Mahmadullah (who was 43 not out). That partnership changed the momentum and we started controlling the game."
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Indeed, Shakib believed that on the small Malahide ground, which will stage all four Ireland games in the six- match series, 300 is only a par score and they remained on course for that at 157 for four, with 19 overs remaining.
"They have a new team, as they are still in the IPL so they will be missing some experience, but they are still the second ranked (sic) team and they will come hard at us," he added.
"We played them a few months back, it wasn't a good memory as we didn't too well in New Zealand but these are different conditions, a different scenario and we are hoping to do well."
No-one was more impressive than Peter Chase, their 23- year-old opening bowler who, playing on his home ground, followed up his five wickets in last weekend's ODIs against England with another three-wicket haul.
"My confidence is going up every time I play, taking wickets obviously helps and hopefully I can continue doing that throughout the series," said Chase.
Ireland's next match is against New Zealand on Sunday.