Chittagong: New Zealand were braced to defend a below-par first innings score in the first session of the second day. BJ Watling and Trent Boult slowly developed a mischievous plan that has been repeated seven times already this year. They fended off the Bangladesh bowlers first, then got comfortable, soon they were dominating the attack and New Zealand were in charge of the Chittagong Test.
Watling and Boult, the tenth wicket pair, added 127 runs. It shot their total up from 342 for 9 to 469 all out by the end of the second session. Watling completed a second Test century off 171 balls. He was finally dismissed for 103 while Boult was unbeaten on 52 – the fifteenth time a No. 11 has made a half-century in Tests.
The visitors added 189 runs on the last day, after which Bangladesh went to stumps at 103 for 2 with Mominul Haque, on 77 off 71 balls, and debutant Marshall Ayub at the crease.
But the home side were shaken by New Zealand’s late charge, and it was evident in how they lost two wickets in the first 3.3 overs. Opener Tamim Iqbal chased a slightly full ball while Anamul Haque was done by Doug Bracewell’s predictable inward movement. Mominul and Ayub, however, stopped the rot till the end of day’s play, as they added 95 runs for the third wicket.
It was Tamim’s first-ever golden duck, and the shot he played wasn’t much of a surprise. It is one that has fetched him boundaries throughout his career, but here Boult got the ball to move slightly towards the slips. Kane Williamson, fresh from two sessions of rest, took a fine catch at gully that greatly delighted captain Brendan McCullum.
Anamul had survived an edge to slip off a no-ball off the sixth ball of the innings from Doug Bracewell. But it wasn’t for too long, as he was done by the same bowler’s in-ducker that was as predictable as Anamul’s gap between bat and pad.
But as Ayub’s confidence grew after a few overs when he looked genuinely nervous. He left and ducked any delivery that shouldn’t be bothered with, playing only those within his reach as he mostly defended and letting Mominul do the scoring.
Quite different than his usual dour method of batting, Mominul went after New Zealand who committed the mistake of bowling too wide to him at first and then too full. He latched onto Bruce Martin’s left-arm spin, taking him for three boundaries in a row in his first over. In the next over, he struck Bracewell for three more on either side of the ground. There were six more boundaries, and each one in front of the wicket.
He completed his third half-century off 36 balls, the second fastest for Bangladesh. Ayub supported him quite well for a debutant but they are still some ways short of doing what Boult and Watling did for the first half the day.
The duo put on the fourth-highest final wicket stand for New Zealand, and also the second-highest against Bangladesh, after the 133 added by Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan in 2004.
Watling was the more technical of the two, but didn’t have to sweat too much when he left Boult on strike. Boult was severe on the Bangladesh spinners, particularly Shakib Al Hasan who was struck twice for sixes over deep midwicket.
Watling also survived an early let-off when he was on four. Rubel Hossain, who had bounced out nightwatchman Bruce Martin for the first wicket of the day, was celebrating when Nasir Hossain safely held an edge from Watling at gully but a replay asked by the on-field umpires confirmed a no-ball by Rubel, who has been quite regular in stepping over the line.
Razzak bowled the most, 55 overs, taking three for 147. Sohag Gazi took two wickets while there was one each for Rubel, Nasir and Mominul.
New Zealand 469 (Watling 103, Boult 52*) v Bangladesh 103 for 2 (Mominul 77*, Boult 1-5)
