Shanto's late dismissal spoils morning session for Tigers

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto's overzealous approach cost him his wicket late in the morning session as Bangladesh went into the lunch interval on 104-2 on the first day of their Sylhet Test against New Zealand today.

Shanto, who played a brisk knock of 37 off 35 balls, threw away his wicket with less than 10 minutes to go before lunch, top-edging a full toss delivery from part-time spinner Glenn Philipps to get caught by Kane Williamson.

Philipps' scalp, which was his maiden wicket in Test cricket, broke a 53-run partnership between Shanto and Mahmudul Hasan Joy and helped the visitors end the session on equal standings.

Joy is now batting on 42 and he is accompanied in the middle by Mominul Haque, who is unbeaten on three.

Earlier, New Zealand's first success in the innings came from left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, whose sharp turning delivery rattled Zakir Hasan's off stump, ending his innings on 12.

Batting first, Joy and Zakir successfully negated the opening spell of New Zealand pacers Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson.

After the seamers failed to bring the breakthrough, skipper Southee handed the ball to Ajaz, who broke the opening stand on 39 with a sharp turning delivery, signs of things to come later in the match.

Shanto, who is leading the side in place of injured skipper Shakib Al Hasan, then came to the middle with a clear plan to attack the Kiwi spinners to unsettle them.

He opened his account with a six straight down the ground against Ajaz and hit the spinner for a four two balls later.

Shanto hit Ajaz for a couple more sixes and a four, which forced Southee to take the spinner off the attack.

But his over-aggressive approach eventually caused his dismissal.

The pitch in Sylhet has already shown signs of turn and inconsistent bounce, which should aid the hosts who have gone into the match with three spinners – Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan and Taijul Islam – and just one pacer in Shoriful Islam.