Tigers show patience

Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim (L) flicks past the fielder at short-leg during his sedate unbeaten 59 on the first day of the first Test against New Zealand at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium on Friday.Photo: Zobaer Hossain Sikder

A record fifth-wicket partnership between Mehrab Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim rallied Bangladesh to a solid position against New Zealand on a fascinating first day's play in the first Test at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium yesterday.
Both batsmen struck half-centuries and shared an unbeaten stand of 139 runs for the fifth wicket as the Tigers reached 183 for four at stumps after deciding to bat first.
The stand broke the previous record set by Aminul Islam and Mohammad Ashraful, who added 126 against Sri Lanka in 2001.
Although the partnership defined the day, Bangladesh were digging their own grave by losing three wickets for ten runs immediately after lunch, having been overly cautious in their approach before the break.
Tamim Iqbal (18 off 90 balls) and Rajin Saleh (20 off 129 balls) added 34 for the second wicket in the entire first session. It took Bangladesh 23 balls to get off the mark and the first ten overs yielded just three runs as the two batsmen passed up plenty of scoring opportunities.
Tamim struck two boundaries while there was none from Rajin, who got hit on his wrist while trying to duck under a Jacob Oram delivery that did not bounce from short of a length.
Tamim, Rajin and Mohammad Ashraful (2 off 35 balls) were however all sent packing right after lunch and it was left to the two relatively inexperienced players to rescue the innings.
Batting for the Tigers in a Test match after a year and having failed to make an impression in the Australia tour, Mehrab's intent to take control of the game was known as early as the second ball of his innings when he lifted Daniel Vettori over extra-cover for three runs.
He hit ten boundaries in his 164-ball knock, eight of which came off the two spinners as New Zealand struggled in the post-tea session due to the high temperature and the lack of a breakthrough.
Mushfiqur mixed caution with aggression as the right-handed batsman reached his second Test half-century with a beautiful straight drive past New Zealand's best bowler of the day, Iain O'Brien, in the penultimate over of the day.
The wicketkeeper-batsman faced 145 deliveries and hit nine boundaries and a six that was swept high over mid-wicket off Patel, a favourite for both batsmen.
New Zealand's fielding performance also did not help matters. After O'Brien had Zunaed Siddiqui leg-before in his first over, Brendon McCullum dropped Rajin Saleh off the very next ball. An over later, it was Tamim's turn to have some good fortune when Aaron Redmond spilled an easy chance at second slip off Kyle Mills. In the 20th over, the same fielder dropped the same batsman, this time at short leg off Patel.
O'Brien later removed Rajin Saleh as he took two wickets while the other two wickets that fell went to Daniel Vettori who removed Ashraful with a superbly disguised arm-ball and had Tamim flash at a wide delivery right after lunch.
The day definitely had its ups and downs and even though the Tigers could be 40 runs short of a perfect day of Test match batting, the two unbeaten batsmen would look to carry the impetus into today's play.