Bangladesh were left to wonder what went wrong with their bowling as New Zealand took a firm control in the second Test in Dhaka, reaching 419-8 at close on the third day on Wednesday.
Four fifties and a century were struck on the day, each coming as a shell to hit the Tigers, who were hoping so much from this Test match after a high-scoring draw in Chittagong.
Instead, they are now bracing for a battle to save the match, which will be an achievement if they can be successful.
New Zealand’s first innings lead already reached 137 and barring any dramatic declaration it has every chance to soar close to 200 runs.
Given the weather forecast, which says at least some rain for the remaining two days, and the unpredictable nature of the pitch, few would now give them a chance to come up with a win or a draw.
The Tigers had no-one to blame but their bowling for taking them to this precarious position as the New Zealanders faced little trouble in negotiating the spin of Sakib al Hasan, Abdur Razzak and Sohag Gazi.
Sohag, the man of the match in Chittagong, is still wicketless and Razzak is no where near to his best.
The Black Caps enjoyed his bowling most among the spin trio, though they presented him with one wicket as consolation.
Sakib completed his 10th five-wicket haul, but that helped very little as only two of his five wickets came on the crucial third day, which began very promisingly with New Zealand at 107-3.
New Zealand had Corey Anderson to thank for making the day pretty for them as he slammed 116 from 173 balls, his maiden Test century, which decisively took the game in their favour.
Anderson put on 140 with Kane Williamson (62) for the fifth wicket, a partnership that sapped the Tigers’ energy and helped New Zealand regroup after Sakib had restricted overnight batsman Ross Taylor’s innings to 53.
Anderson the youngest ever player to win a New Zealand contract at 16, had his share of luck too.
The second ball he faced had come off his gloves but it fell inches short of wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim denying Rubel Hossain his elusive first wicket in the game.
The 23-year-old all-rounder did not look back since and batted with ease though he initially struggled for runs.
His fluent batting allowed Kane Williamson to anchor the innings and he did the job fabulously until he mistimed a Razzak delivery for a catch at deep midwicket to Tamim Iqbal.
The Tigers heaved a sigh of relief when Anderson followed Williamson, presenting Al Amin Hossain with his first Test wicket.
Sakib then made Bracewell his fifth wicket and Nasir Hossain maintained his status as breakthrough bowler by dismissing Neil Wagner before the beginning of another frustrating partnership.
The memory of BJ Watling wagging the tail to put on 127 in the last wicket stand in Chittagong is still fresh, but little did the Tigers know something like this could be repeated in totally different circumstance in Dhaka.
But this has happened exactly as Watling this time added 84 runs in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand with Ish Sodhi that effectively dented Bangladesh’s hope of making it a contest.
Watling already completed his fifty to stay 59 not out, but what frustrated the Tigers most was that Sodhi (55 not out) also joined the party to make his maiden fifty.
Sohag repaid Sodhi for his generous bowling, which allowed the Bangladesh spinner to score an unbeaten century in Chittagong, dropping a simple return catch that would have ended the leg-spinner’s innings at 34.
Bangladesh v New Zealand
2nd Test, Day 4 live on
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Day 3
Bangladesh first innings 282 all out (Tamim Iqbal 95; N Wagner 5-64)
New Zealand first innings (overnight 107-3)
Fulton lbw b Sakib 14
Rutherford c Mominul b Sakib 13
Williamson c Tamim b Razzak 62
Taylor c Nasir b Sakib 53
McCullum c Rubel b Sakib 11
Anderson c Gazi b Al-Amin 116
BJ Watling not out 59
Bracewell c Mushfiqur b Sakib 17
Wagner c Marshall b Nasir 8
Sodhi not out 55
Extras (b4, lb4, wb2, nb1) 11
Total (for 8 wickets, 133 overs) 419
Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Rutherford), 2-32 (Fulton), 3-101 (McCullum), 4-127 (Taylor), 5-267 (Williamson), 6-287 (Anderson), 7-318 (Bracewell), 8-335 (Wagner)
Bowling
Al-Amim 16 3 58 1
Gazi 34 8 77 0
Sakib 40 13 97 5
Razzak 19 1 84 1
Rubel 18 1 81 0
Nasir 3 1 7 1
Mominul 3 0 7 0
-With New Age input
