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New Zealand vs Bangladesh, 2nd Test: Visitors post 289 despite Tim Southee’s 5-for

Bangladesh have managed to pile up 289 runs despite Tim Southee and Trent Boult sharing 9 wickets amongst each other.

This is Tim Southee's 2nd 5-for in three homes Tests © Getty Images
This is Tim Southee’s 2nd 5-for in three homes Tests © Getty Images

Tim Southee took a stunning five-for, as Bangladesh were bowled out for 289 at stumps, on Day One of the second Test at Christchurch. Trent Boult, however, was the second best bowler, finishing with figures of 4 for 87. For Bangladesh, Soumya Sarkar was promoted in batting order, top-scoring with 86 — his maiden fifty. He was well supported by Shakib Al Hasan, who too registered a fifty. A partnership of 127 between these two and some quick hits down the order by Nurul Hasan (47)  saw Bangladesh get bundled out at the brink of a 300-run mark.

Opting to bowl first, New Zealand got off to a great start as their pacers dismissed Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal and No. 3 Mahmudullah in quick succession. The scorecard read 38 for 2. But then came Shakib and, along with opener Soumya, he took the team out of the woods. Shakib took the aggressor’s role and displayed perfect example of counterattacking, going all guns blazing against the Kiwi pace attack comprising of Southee, Neil Wagner, Boult and Colin de Grandhomme.

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

Anything that was bowled wide and short was hammered to the boundary rope, and same was the case when pitched up. The duo of Sarkar and Shakib went on to score 127 runs for the third wicket, off 153, which saw Bangladesh going at a respectable score at lunch. Both Shakib and Sarkar continued their dominance in the second session as well, but Boult dismissed well-settled Sarkar for 86. It was only a matter of 10 deliveries that Boult struck again, this time to get rid of Sabbir Rahman (7).

And before the hosts could try to steady their innings, Southee struck from the other to dismiss Shakib for 59. In the second session, Bangladesh were reduced to 179 for 5. Bangladesh batting then collapsed, but debutants Nurul Hasan and Nazmul Hossain held the fort. They batted out with caution, which also saw some close calls and catches being dropped in the slip cordon.

Despite pressure being added by the Kiwi bowling department, Nurul and Nazmul played out of their skin out and scored a 53-run stand for the sixth wicket. Southee then removed Nazmul (18) to end the partnership. New Zealand had a good chance to capitalise on this situation, but they could not hold on to it and allowed Nurul to score runs at the other end.

Nurul was then dismissed by Boult for 47, which saw the youngster missing out on his debut maiden fifty by just 3 runs.

The Kiwi fielding has been nothing but poor, as catches were dropped (wherein Jeet Raval and Ross Taylor were the culprits twice). Their bowlers have toiled hard on Day One. But given the mistakes in the field, the hosts let Bangladesh off the hook. With four days still remaining, New Zealand will have to come out to bat with positivity and look to surpass the Bangladesh total without losing too many wickets.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh 289 (Soumya Sarkar 86, Shakib Al Hasan 59, Nurul Hasan 47; Tim Southee 5 for 94, Trent Boult 4 for 87) vs New Zealand

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