NZ restrict BD to 289 after day 1

New Zealand manage to bowl out Bangladesh for 289 in 84.3 overs during the first day of the second Test of the series at Hagley Oval, Christchurch today.

Tim Southee of the Black Caps took five wickets while Trent Boult captured four to skittle out the tourists after Bangladesh were looking to extend the game with Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan at the crease. The 127-run stand for the third wicket promised much, but after the dismissal of Soumya, wickets fell in regular intervals to leave Bangladesh’s first innings in tatters.

The 53-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Nurul hasan and Nazmul Hossain Shanto stopped the rot. After Nazmul was sent back for 18 in the 59th over, Bangladesh’s tail-enders managed to eke out some runs to bolster the fledging total.

Kamrul Islam Rabbi played 63 balls for two while Rubel Hossain contributed with 16 during the lower-order resistance from Bangladesh.

Earlier, New Zealand struck back with three wickets in quick succession in the first hour of the afternoon session to leave things evenly poised at tea on the first day of the second Test as Bangladesh reached 225 for five, with two debutants at the crease.

Debutant wicket-keeper batsman Nurul Hasan was batting on a 56-ball 31 along with fellow first-timer 18-year-old Nazmul Hossain, who was unbeaten on a 44-ball 15. Their partnership for the sixth-wicket was worth 46.

The debutant duo came together after a flurry of wickets starting with the end of Shakib Al Hasan and Soumya Sarkar's 127-run third-wicket partnership with the score on 165 when Soumya spooned a catch to cover off a Trent Boult delivery that stopped a bit in the 36th over to be out for a 104-ball 86 that included 11 boundaries. Sabbir Rahman then failed to make the most of a promotion to number five in the depleted batting line-up as he edged a bouncer to slip in Boult's next over to be out for five. Shakib -- who had reached his 50 in 65 balls -- departed four balls later in the 39th over when a Tim Southee lifter down the leg side just clipped Shakib's bat on way to wicketkeeper BJ Watling's gloves. Shakib scored a 78-ball 59 with the help of nine boundaries. 

From 179 for five, the debutants set about the rebuilding job, but it could have ended quickly as Nurul, on four, chased a wide Boult delivery in the 40th over, but was fortunate when the resultant edge was dropped by Southee at third slip.  

Earlier an action packed opening session of the second Test against New Zealand saw Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan take Bangladesh to 128 for two at lunch. 

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal, filling in for the injured Mushfiqur Rahim, was one of two early wickets to fall when he gloved Tim Southee down the leg to be caught behind after New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson chose to field on a green track at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Tamim was out for five with the score on seven in the fourth over, and number three Mahmudullah Riyad paid for his hard-handed aggression on a seaming track when he was caught behind off the inside edge off Trent Boult with the score on 38.

But Soumya Sarkar, making his comeback to the Test side after nearly 21 months, hit an unbeaten 64 off 76 balls and Shakib Al Hasan was not out on a 46-ball 39 as the tourists went to lunch in high spirits after the early wobble. 

The morning session saw Bangladesh scoring their runs at a rate of nearly five an over, 20 boundaries, a failed review from New Zealand against Mahmudullah and a dropped catch two overs before lunch off Soumya when the left-hander was on 52.  

Although the wind that made playing cricket so difficult on the first day of the first Test in Wellington a little over a week ago, in Christchurch the challenge facing Bangladesh was more conventional -- the swinging ball. Southee and Boult were a constant threat to the top order, and while Tamim and Mahmudullah succumbed, Soumya survived through some judicious leaves and the willingness to punish anything loose. Eight boundaries, with the standout being a picture-perfect cover drive off Tim Southee in the 12th over, was testament to that attitude. 

There were some streaky moments, such as when shortly after bringing up his maiden Test half-century off 53 balls he drove loosely outside off-stump off Colin de Grandhomme, only for Jeet Raval to dive across Ross Taylor and parry the ball perilously close past the jaw of an evading Taylor to the third man boundary. 

Shakib, as he did when scoring 217 in the first innings in Wellington, looked completely at ease in these conditions and brought out his full complement of back-foot off-side cuts and jabs to hit seven boundaries in his unbeaten innings. Three of those -- a squeezed cut through backward point, a drive through cover and a square cut through point -- came in the 16th over bowled by de Grandhomme and Shakib continued in that vein to keep the Kiwis on the back foot. 

Considering that they were put in to bat, Bangladesh will probably be the happier side during the lunch interval. 

Bangladesh have made four changes in the team from the first Test in Wellington, which they lost by seven wickets despite taking a crucial first-inning lead. 

Soumya Sarker came in for injured opener Imrul Kayes; wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan made his Test debut coming in as a replacement for injured Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim; young batsman Nazmul Hossain came in place of injured one-down batsman Mominul Haque; pace bowler Rubel Hossain marked his Test return in place of Subhashis Roy, who made his Test debut in Wellington. 

Score

Bangladesh:  289 (84.3 ov)

Soumya 86, Shakib 59, Southee 5-94