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Bangladesh vs New Zealand 2nd Test, Day 4: Henry Nicholls’ nervous 90s, Bangladesh’s disintegration and other highlights

Opener Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme remained unbeaten on 41 and 33 to guide their team to a comfortable victory.

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New Zealand team with the Test series trophy  © Getty Images
New Zealand team with the Test series trophy © Getty Images

New Zealand registered a comprehensive victory against Bangladesh by 9 wickets to clean sweep the Test series 2-0. New Zealand chased down the target of 109 comfortably keeping 9 wickets in hand. Opener Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme remained unbeaten on 41 and 33 to guide their team to a comfortable victory. Tim Southee was named Man of the Match for his 8 wickets (5 in first and 3 in second innings) in the contest. New Zealand will be on cloud nine after this victory, as they now won all eight games across all formats against Bangladesh in this tour which comprised of 3 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), 3 Twenty20 Internationals (20Is) and 2 Tests. Let us have a look at some the important Day Four’s highlights that caught the attention:

The nervous nineties: For any batsman who is in his nineties, inching towards his maiden Test century is a tough task. It doesn’t matter how well-composed innings you played from 0 to 99; because one mistake may have and all effort going down in vain. The same happened with Henry Nicholls on Monday. He came out to bat on 56 on Day Four. He looked in sublime touch. There were free-flowing drives, calculated late-cuts and apt use of feet against the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mehedi Hasan. He played a vital part in scoring 30 for the 8th wicket with Tim Southee and then 57 for the 9th with Neil Wagner, with both partnerships coming at more than 4 an over. He looked all poised to get to the milestone which would have been his maiden hundred, but could not get to the three-figure mark. He tried going for a glory shortcoming down the track against Mehedi, but only to chop the ball back onto the stumps.

Live Cricket Scorecard: Bangladesh vs New Zealand, 2nd Test Christchurch

Bizarre run-out: New Zealand innings ended in one of the most bizarre ways when pacer Neil Wagner was declared run-out. Wagner pushed one through square leg and straightaway charged for the second run of which he did well to make it inside the crease. But what Wagner missed here was to drag his bat as Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan flicked that ball back on the stumps without even looking at them. Though Wagner had crossed the crease and was well inside, the replay showed his feet were in the air at the point when the bails came off! Guess, something bizarre has to happen when Bangladesh play cricket.

A remarkable fightback: Bangladesh’s fortune of suffering batting collapses in the second innings was witnessed yet again as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Their batsmen had no answers to the short deliveries which they were peppered with from the Kiwi quicks. Bangladesh were tottering at 115 for 8 and the end looked imminent. Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam were at the crease and these two had nothing to lose. They decided to fling their bats at everything that came their way. They whacked, pulled and cut every short delivery. Tasking took the role of the aggressor and scored runs in a flurry. He edged a few and the ball ran beyond the boundary rope.

Both scored 51 runs at 6.37 per over. This was the highest partnership for Bangladesh in the second innings which ensured they crossed the 100-run mark, extending their lead over New Zealand. Taskin was later clean up by Trent Boult, but before this, he assaulted the strong Kiwi pace attack by scoring 33 off 30 deliveries consisting of a boundary and 2 huge sixes. Kamrul remained unbeaten on 23 off 29 constituting on 3 boundaries and 1 six.

Colin de Grandhomme makes it grand: New Zealand came out with the intention of finishing the game quickly. Tom Latham and Jeet Raval started off briskly after making a cautious start. After seeing off the initial overs, Latham and Raval scored runs on every opportunity they got. But completely against the run of play, Raval (33) lost his wicket. Surprisingly, at No. 3 as de Grandhomme and not Kane Williamson, and in the end it proved to be a wise decision.

He was dismissed for a two-ball duck in the first innings. But de Grandhomme was promoted up the order from No. 7 to No. 3 and rightly so, he bashed the Tigers all over the park. Shakib was brought into attack seeing de Grandhomme, but then he hit a six and a four of the second and fourth ball of Shakib’s over. He played 15 deliveries and scored unbeaten 33 which consisted 4 huge sixes of which two were back-to-back off  Nazmul Hossain to complete the comprehensive victory.

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