1st Test NZ 1-0 BAN

Day 1

Bangladesh 154/3 (40.2 ov)
New Zealand

Bangladesh understood that they have the personnel to hold steady in seamer-friendly conditions over the course of a rain-affected day in Wellington. As far as surprises go that was rather pleasant; not unlike finding money in the couch cushions.

Tamim Iqbal was carving boundaries at will and throwing bowlers off their rhythm. So dominant was he that at one point all but four runs of the total were made by him; and by then he was past fifty. Mominul Haque was subtler; so much that the runs he scored were an afterthought. Only, before anyone knew it, he was on 64 not out, his team was 154 for 3, and it took the light fading to finally drag him off his beloved batting crease. Nearly fifty overs were lost in total to bad weather and in an effort to make up for them, the umpires ruled that play would start half an hour early on Friday.

If the strokeplay was eye-catching, then the northerly wind was a full-blown diva. It hit speeds of 150 kph, swindled an umpire's hat, made the groundstaff fly let alone the covers, and forced the cameramen off the Southern stand, which was basically scaffolding. For a good part of the final two sessions, the cricket was broadcast the old way, from behind the batsman at one end. It seemed to enhance Mominul's appeal as he showcased stout defence and good judgment outside off.

In the lead up to this Test, the popular opinion was Bangladesh would be caught off guard. It gained steam after Kane Williamson invited them to bat on a pitch that retained flecks of green. Imrul Kayes didn't help matters when he top-edged a hook and was caught at long leg in the fourth over. It was a particularly irksome dismissal, especially for an opener, in conditions where the short ball posed a lot less threat than the full one.

Of course, Mahmudullah might have reasons to disagree with that assessment, considering he was hit in the box by a back of a length delivery soon after coming in to bat. He was then struck on the right hand by a throw from Neil Wagner running to his left from midwicket and made to look like he was being pulled in opposite directions when facing New Zealand's two left-arm quicks. With time he learnt not to get so squared up and even crunched three sweet shots to the point boundary but just as he was looking dangerous, he chased a wide delivery from Wagner and the outside edge was smartly taken by BJ Watling diving to his right.

Nevertheless Bangladesh made their highest total at the Basin Reserve when they passed 143; they had found 106 of those runs in fours and sixes. Few things could better represent New Zealand's ill-discipline. Trent Boult ping-ponged from iffy to irresistible. He was hit for six fours in 17 balls by Tamim, at which point Williamson had no choice but to take his premier fast bowler out of the attack after only three overs. It's all very well having the wind at your back, but when it clocks in faster than your deliveries, you have a problem.

Boult redeemed himself by having Tamim lbw with his second ball after the early lunch, pitching it on an in-between length, making it seam in off the deck and catching the batsman on the move. New Zealand had already used one of their reviews when allrounder Colin de Grandhomme had an lbw struck down in the 11th over, but Williamson tried again and this time umpire Marais Erasmus' on-field call of not out was overruled.

Tim Southee was a bit more dependable. He assessed that as abundant as the cloud cover was in the morning, the breeze was too savage to encourage swing. The grass on the pitch however, lent itself to helping the ball move after pitching and Southee used to his advantage, occasionally even using cross-seamers to surprise batsmen.

But there weren't enough times that pressure was forced upon Bangladesh from both ends. A run-rate of 3.81 indicated the Wellington pitch was truer than most thought, but it also pointed the finger on Boult and company for their inability to maintain a length that demanded the batsman come forward.


Bangladesh should be wary if they do find it. They were playing an away Test for the first time in more than two years and, as the one-day series showed, they share an uncomfortably close relationship with batting collapses. Unless they get enough runs on the board, it would be too much to ask their inexperienced bowling attack to win them the match. Taskin Ahmed and Subashis Roy were making their debuts and Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Mehedi Hasan made their debuts only months ago. None of them have played any long-form cricket abroad.


Day 2

Bangladesh 542/7 (136.0 ov)

New Zealand

A maiden double-century from Shakib Al Hasan and 159 stately runs from Mushfiqur Rahim drove New Zealand into the ground on the second day in Wellington. Along the way, they recorded the highest partnership for Bangladesh in Test cricket - 359 - their second highest total away from home - 542 for 7 - and endless smiles on the faces of fans back home staying up through the night.

The theme of play on Friday made it seem like Basin Reserve was a farmer's market. It was bathed in sunshine but the Northerly was nowhere to be found, clearly it didn't like what was being sold. "Time for runs," said the sign posted over the pitch. "Fair enough," said Bangladesh's two most experienced players and batted 82.2 overs in each other's company. Shakib's 217, at a remarkable strike rate of 78, was the highest individual score by a Bangladesh batsman in Test cricket, while Mushfiqur only just missed out on batting through the entire day.

"Patience for wickets? Lovely, darling patience for a pretty packet of wickets?" tempted the old gaffer who kept following Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme. The New Zealand bowlers bought into the deal initially. They targeted left-handers from around the wicket, placing the ball in the off-stump corridor and one of them snatched Mominul Haque's edge in the third over of the day. It was the 44th instance that caught Watling bowled Southee featured on a scorecard, going past caught Smith bowled Hadlee. New Zealand didn't quite keep their end of the bargain from the middle session onwards, leaking 273 in 61 overs at a run-rate of 4.47.

Mushfiqur had to deal with a spate of bouncers early in his innings, copping blows to his fingers while awkwardly fending the ball away. But he wouldn't give in. This pain was nothing compared to what he would have to endure if Bangladesh collapsed from a position of strength, again.

Coming back from a hamstring injury, Mushfiqur relied on his guts to survive. It was clear he was fuelled by the desire to show that the team he leads can do well outside their borders. He waited for the full deliveries to come and when they did, put them away gracefully. Lashes through cover, a push past mid-off, a stunning on-drive for four and excellently controlled glides through point fed his fourth Test century, which he celebrated by drawing out what looked like a coin from his pocket and raising it aloft.

Shakib, meanwhile, had far fewer moments of discomfort because he was able to pick the bouncer early. He was happy to leave an over that was packed with them from Wagner, who plays on batsmen's egos to hustle them out. But the moment the short ball failed to rise high enough, he was onto it, pulling and cutting with no half-measures. With 128 of his runs coming behind the wicket, he moved to second place among Bangladesh's top-run getters in Test cricket. He eventually fell with ten minutes to go for stumps, chopping on to Wagner's bowling.

New Zealand would rue the catches that they couldn't hold on to. Mushfiqur, on 28, flailed at a wide delivery from de Grandhomme, a very thick outside edge flew too quickly for Jeet Raval leaping up at second slip. He could only get fingertips to it. While that was a very difficult chance, on the first day Mitchell Santner dropped a straightforward one off Shakib when he was on 4.

The second new ball presented the chance for wickets and Boult was particularly effective in making it swing. He squared Shakib up with a full delivery from wide of the crease and the angle made the batsman opt for a flick. A little swing away took the leading edge but there was no third slip to capitalise on it. In the same over, Boult, going around the wicket, used seam movement to trouble Mushfiqur, to the extent that he inside-edged on to the leg stump but the bails, weighted in light of the winds usually prevalent in Wellington, did not move. Boult eventually got his man for 159, as a little bit of reverse swing away from the bat took the outside edge through to Watling behind the stumps.


A wicket off the final ball of the day - Mehedi Hasan for 0 - rang a little hollow for New Zealand, but they should not lose hope yet. The pitch had flattened out, there were no signs of deterioration, and the outfield was lightning. There were more runs to be scored at Basin Reserve.


Day 3


Bangladesh 595/8d
New Zealand 292/3 (77.0 ov)
New Zealand trail by 303 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Winds of change blew over Wellington on the third day as Tom Latham became only the second New Zealand opener to make a century at Basin Reserve since 1931. His 119 slashed the deficit down to 303 and though he spent all but one hour of play today at the batting crease, no one learnt anything new about him. That, in itself, was remarkable.

Latham has always been strong on the cut and the flick - 83 of his runs came behind the wicket. He succeeds by playing the ball late, and close to the body. Most of all, his ability to bat on and on, without feeling flustered by scoreboard pressure, without allowing his concentration to be upset, was on show again. While wondering how to describe the innings, it was hard not to imagine Latham as a jukebox and one of his fans taking full control of it for the entire day.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, were like that person who becomes the life of the party for the first time. They began the day on 542 for 7, batting through the first hour when they could easily have cracked on and bowled. They had had a taste of the limelight and didn't want to give it up. Then again, considering one of their bowlers picked up a wicket off his first ball of the match and another on Test debut - and playing his first first-class match in four years - dismissed one of the best batsman in the world when he was well set, they earned the right to live it up a bit.

Taskin Ahmed and long-form cricket have been on break since 2013. It was just too demanding and his body just couldn't keep up. On return to the format, the 21-year-old fast bowler could have picked up a wicket in his first over but he had a catch dropped in the slips. He suffered further, conceding 10 fours in his 15 overs but, eventually, he found the edge again and Kane Williamson, having just got to fifty, was walking back. Taskin had hit the jackpot as far as maiden Test wickets were concerned and a smile as poignant as the tears he shed upon receiving his Bangladesh cap from bowling coach Courtney Walsh indicated he knew it too.

New Zealand, for their part, made sure the bowlers had to produce moments of brilliance to earn their wickets. The pitch was flat, it had perhaps got a bit quicker as well after two days in the sun, meaning there was little danger in hitting the ball through the line. That fact was best represented by the middle session's numbers: 131 runs in 25 overs at 5.24 per over. Ross Taylor, back in the New Zealand team after eye surgery, was whacking the ball so beautifully that there was no question of his form being affected by the break. One of the few times he mistimed a shot - perhaps it was the first time - he was caught at square leg for 40 off 51.

New Zealand's rush for runs was instigated by their captain. It was unclear whether Williamson was venting against the fact that he had captained the team into giving away their second-biggest total - 595 for 8 - after inserting the opposition but he did begin his innings with a flurry of boundaries. There were three in four balls - a punch through mid-off, a flick through square leg and a glide past gully, all of the back foot.

Confirmation that Williamson was indeed going on a cathartic rant came in the 22nd over. For one, it was set off by a perfectly innocuous thing - a back of a length delivery on fourth stump. For another, he went to a great deal of effort to make his point, leaping up off his toes to get on top of the bounce while still somehow keeping the bat face straight. That poor red Kookaburra was so scared that it went and hid at the point boundary. Most of his runs came off the back foot, but when he was asked to come forward to a good length delivery just outside off stump in the 34th over, he feathered an edge through to stand-in wicketkeeper Imrul Kayes. The regular man behind the stumps, the Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, had injured his fingers taking blows to the hand while batting yesterday and did not take the field. Vice-captain Tamim Iqbal led the side in his absence.

Latham's innings was the library to Williamson's theme park. There were neat little glides behind point and deft little flicks through square led and midwicket. He frustrated the opposition with leaves and looked the perfect man for the rest of the line-up to bat around. Jeet Raval, though, couldn't quite pull off that mandate. He was given a life in the 10th over when Shakib Al Hasan shelled a catch at third slip, but the next time he nicked a ball behind the wicket, courtesy Kamrul Islam Rabbi's extra bounce, he was gone. But not before he had given New Zealand the chance to record fifty-plus stands for all of their first four wickets, for only the second time in Test cricket. Latham was involved in all of four stands.


He was excellent against Mehedi Hasan's offspin, a result of his picking the length early, moving forward or back decisively. The 19-year-old had taken the new ball - making it the first instance of a specialist spinner opening the bowling in his team's first innings of a Test in New Zealand - but struggled to keep his rhythm in conditions - read: the wind - that he had never faced before. The other man playing his first Test abroad fared better. Sabbir Rahman completed a half-century before Bangladesh took the opportunity to declare their innings - something they had only done twice on past tours.


Day 4


Bangladesh 595/8d & 66/3 (18.3 ov)
New Zealand 539
Bangladesh lead by 122 runs with 7 wickets remaining

Bangladesh claimed a lead of 56 by bowling New Zealand out for 539 and swelled it to 122 by stumps on the fourth day, but not without casualties. The biggest of them was Imrul Kayes, who was stretchered off the field with what looked like an injury to his upper left thigh. He had kept wicket for 148.2 overs, substituting for the injured Mushfiqur Rahim and the strain of returning immediately to open the batting caught up with him while attempting a quick single in the last half hour of play. He had to dive into the crease, landed awkwardly and just lay there motionless. When the physio made his way out and tried to rouse Kayes up to his feet, he basically buckled. He just could not support his weight on his legs.

New Zealand were able to send back three more Bangladesh batsmen in the last half hour to set up a final day for which entry is free at Basin Reserve. They had begun bowling thinking the draw was the only result. With two innings left to pack into a day and bit's play, not many would fault them for that assumption. But with each wicket, they began planting close catchers and benefited from the opposition batsmen making bad choices.

Tamim Iqbal was caught napping by the first instance of sharp turn. A ball spat out of the footmarks in Mitchell Santner's fourth over and bowled him as he tried playing a cut. Then Mahmudullah tickled a harmless short ball - rare considering it came from Neil Wagner - to BJ Watling behind the stumps. And finally the nightwatchman Mehedi Hasan ran himself out looking for a second run off what became the last ball of the day.

The good thing for Bangladesh though was Mushfiqur was seen padded up and they also have first-innings double-centurion Shakib Al Hasan in the shed, who should give them the stability they need when play resumes at 10:30 am on Monday.

Nevertheless, it was a disappointing end to the day for the visitors, particularly considering the discipline they showed with the ball. Kamrul Islam Rabbi and his accurate bouncers off his slingy action were particularly hard to deal with. He struck Wagner on the shoulder once, then on the grille, which shifted back to bruise his chin and the back of his neck as well. The batsman required medical attention from the physio multiple times but refused to go off the field until he top-edged a pull to the wicketkeeper. It was Kayes' fifth catch of the match, the best haul by a substitute gloveman in Test cricket.

While everyone knew that wicket was coming, part-timer Mahmudullah's scalps were huge surprises. He often bowls in limited-overs cricket, especially at home, on slow, turning pitches. But Basin Reserve was nothing like that. The healthy grass cover on the surface made sure it held together well enough that even on the fourth day there was little spin. The bounce and pace was true and the ball kept coming onto the bat, so a spinner had to deceive batsmen in the air.

So naturally it was a silly old short ball down the leg that made things happen. Watling, on 49, wound up, trying to pull it to the fine-leg boundary, but all he could do was feather an edge through to Kayes, who had run three feet or so to his left, desperate to stop byes against his name. He had his eyes turned away from the ball when it settled snugly in his gloves.

This sequence of pure comedy was so baffling that umpire Paul Reiffel didn't spot the edge. Shakib, taking over leadership duties briefly with vice-captain Tamim off the field at the time, opted for a review and when confirmation of the nick came the entire team erupted in laughter. Four balls later Tim Southee was trapped lbw by Mahmudullah and Bangladesh were in splits.

There was one person who was decidedly stormy at that turn of events. Tom Latham. He was in the middle for 329 balls to make his highest Test score of 177. Since his first-class debut in 2010, only twice had he and the batting crease spent more time together. In 2013, he lasted 423 balls for an unbeaten 241 and in 2014 when a 383-ball investment gave him 261 runs. He fell attempting a shot that contributes a lot to him being an all-conditions batsman - the sweep.

Latham misjudged the line as Shakib tossed the ball up on middle and off. There was no room to work with, and it was a tad too full as well, sneaking under his bat to hit his front pad in front of middle stump. His 177 made it to the top 10 scores by an opener in New Zealand and he walked off to warm applause from the Sunday crowd, who at one point might have been wondering if play would begin on time.

Steady rain was forecast and it remained overcast in the morning - misty, even. But the umpires thought conditions were still good enough to start play on time at 10.30 am. That had to be pushed back by three minutes considering the New Zealand team was only just getting to the ground.

The home fans must have been chuffed with Santner though, who despite being ruffled by a short-ball barrage from the Bangladesh quicks, showed a willingness to fight it out. He took a blow to the helmet from Taskin Ahmed and nearly gloved Rabbi to the wicketkeeper but persevered through troubling times and began smacking the ball around in the final session - his cuts and pulls vicious - until he was last man out for 73 with six fours and three sixes. Bangladesh beat New Zealand to 10 Test wickets in an innings on this tour. Who would have bet on that?

While Santner has impressed ever since he was drafted into the Test team in Australia in 2015, Henry Nicholls has been the opposite. The selectors clearly trust his talent; they've kept persisting with him at No. 5 despite an average below 30. He had the chance to repay their faith on a flat pitch but, having worked hard to make 53, he tickled a drifter from Shakib heading down leg stump to a gleeful Mehedi at leg-gully. It was like catching practice.


Colin de Grandhomme hammered a four and six and then inside edged Subashis Roy to Kayes to give the debutant his first Test wicket.


Day 5

New Zealand 539 and 217 for 3 beat Bangladesh 595 for 8 dec and 160 by seven wickets

A gruesome day for Bangladesh was highlighted by Mushfiqur Rahim being taken off the field in an ambulance after being struck on the helmet by a bouncer from Tim Southee. The fact that he was batting in the first place, having injured his hand, was a sign of how desperate the situation was for the visitors. They were eventually bowled out for 160 seven overs after lunch. Set 217 to win in 57 overs, a quickfire Kane Williamson century saw New Zealand home in 39.4 overs; the hosts' seven-wicket win also broke a record that had stood for 122 years.

Overnight on 66 for 3, Bangladesh's day began with Shakib Al Hasan's awful heave barely seconds after the start of play. When the focus should have been on survival, he popped a catch to mid-on off Mitchell Santner. The man who had set Bangladesh up with the possibility of beginning an overseas series with a win, hitting their highest ever individual score of 217, had fallen for a duck. They were reduced to 96 for 5 when Mominul Haque did not anticipate a fuller delivery from Neil Wagner. His feet were pinned to the crease, hinting he was expecting a bouncer, and was caught in the slips.

Adding to Bangladesh's woes were the injuries to key batsmen: opener Imrul Kayes had retired hurt on the fourth day during Bangladesh's second innings due to a thigh injury, and Mushfiqur's innings was cut short on day five. The end to Mushfiqur's innings came at a time when he seemed to be dealing with the short ball quite well. A ball that kept low from Southee hit him on the helmet just behind his left ear. There would be outcry over how often the bowlers targeted the fingers on Mushfiqur's bottom hand - which might well be broken - but he would have known what he was in for when he decided to bat with a target on him. Mushfiqur was taken to the hospital, where scans indicated he was out of immediate danger, and returned to the ground to watch his record partnership for Bangladesh with Shakib - they had added 359 in the first innings - become the second-highest one to result in a defeat.

Bangladesh still had hope of something face-saving while Sabbir was at the crease. A naturally aggressive batsman, Sabbir spent 51 minutes without scoring - during which he could have been caught and bowled - and batted sensibly with the tail until lunch. After the break though, perhaps worried by Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Subashis Roy's batting abilities, he began taking a lot more risks and was caught behind for 50 while attempting an on-the-up square drive. Imrul came out to bat again at the fall of Kamrul - the seventh wicket in the innings - and added 12 more as Bangladesh lost their last four wickets for 23 runs. Trent Boult picked up 3 for 53, bowling Roy and Taskin Ahmed with reverse-swing.

New Zealand's chase was a contrast to the manic day that it was for Bangladesh. Williamson reinforced his reputation as a fourth-innings master. He reached a hundred off only 89 balls, the fourth-fastest in the final innings in all Tests. And yet there were no pyrotechnics. The most he did was meet a few lifters in mid-air and paste them through cover though there was no room on offer, or alternatively work his wrists over them and find the midwicket boundary.

Mehedi Hasan, given the new ball again, dismissed Jeet Raval and Tom Latham before tea, beating the first man with flight to earn himself a return catch and the second with turn as a half-hearted defensive shot led to an inside edge onto the stumps. But Bangladesh bowled poorly thereafter, drained by their injury worries and shocked by how wildly the match had turned. Even as late as tea on the fourth day neither team had begun their second innings. By 5.47pm on the fifth, the visitors were beaten. Badly. They couldn't get the simple disciplines right. The quicks were too short, the spinners bowled leg stump and outside and while that was meant to slow down the scoring, it had the opposite effect. In a 10-over after the second wicket, they leaked 77 runs.


New Zealand's overall run-rate - 5.47 - was the third-highest in the fourth innings as Williamson, with his 15th century, and Ross Taylor, with his 24th fifty, put on their eighth hundred partnership and ensured the fans who packed the Basin Reserve - it was free entry for the final day - witnessed history.