A meek surrender
The first over wrote the second day's script for Bangladesh as the tourists closed their second innings on 51 for 5, a deficit of 199 runs. Five catches were dropped and then the batsmen repeated the same mistakes all over again in the second innings to leave the side in a hopeless position going into day three after New Zealand's first innings had ended on 393.
The home side resumed on 134 for three and in Mashrafe Mortaza's opening over Matthew Sinclair on 10 was first given not out by umpire Peter Parker to a confident lbw appeal. Sinclair padded up to a Mortaza delivery that shaped in and would have taken off. A ball later Sinclair edged Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal only managed a touch to a shoulder high edge. In the process Tamim injured his left thumb and did not take the field for the remainder of the day. The opening batsman underwent an x-ray and the report reveled that he had suffered an undisplaced fracture.
Tamim is unlikely to bat tomorrow and is scheduled to consult a specialist in Wellington.
Sinclair was dropped by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and Mortaza at gully before his luck ran out on 47. Stephen Fleming made 87 after being let off on 61 when Shahriar Nafees at mid on stayed glued to his position instead of backtracking and floored a skier trying to take it with a desperate one-handed attempt.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori hit five fours in the first over from an out of sorts Sajidul Islam who either pitched too short or too wide. Vettori went on to make 94 after he was given a reprieve by captain Mohammad Ashraful who fumbled a dolly at mid on from Aftab Ahmed's bowling.
Bangladesh's batting also was as forgettable as their fielding on the day. In the 22 overs they had to negotiate the Tigers lost openers Zunaed Siddique and Nafees, Ashraful, Aftab and Mushfiqur Rahim to catches behind the wicket. Only Habibul Bashar remains among the top order with 21 not out. Bashar playing his 49th Test became the first Bangladeshi to cross 3000 career runs when he reached 8 with a trademark pull shot for a single.
“Landmarks are always nice but you feel better when the team is doing well. If you play 50-odd Tests then you are bound to get 3000 runs or more. I still believe I should have scored more runs. I am not happy with my batting in the last few Tests but hopefully I can convert this start into something big which will help the team. At the moment this achievement is of secondary importance because the team is struggling in this match,” said Bashar.
Comments