The second Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand ended in a draw after rain washed out the fifth and final day’s play at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.
The result ensured the two teams shared the honours in the series after the first Test in Chittagong also ended in a draw. Match officials called play off at 2:08pm after overnight showers and continuous drizzle made the ground unplayable.
Bangladesh were on 269-3 in their second innings overnight, leading New Zealand by 114 runs.
Left-handed middle-order batsman Mominul Haque remained unbeaten on 126 alongside former captain Sakib al Hasan on 32 not out.
Several hundred fans left the stadium dejected, as they had been hoping to watch Mominul complete a double century. Many fans had stayed in the stands throughout the day, hoping that play would resume as the on-again off-again drizzle teased the possibility of a few overs of action.
Bangladesh were under pressure on the fourth day, trailing New Zealand by 155 runs after the first innings, before Mominul and Tamim Iqbal wiped out the deficit and put Bangladesh in front, with their 157 run-partnership – a Bangladesh record for the third wicket.
Mominul, who also made 181 runs in the first innings of the first Test and aggregated 376 runs in the series, was named both man of the match and man of the series.
A number of other Bangladesh players also produced standout performances during the two-match series. Tamim had scores of 46, 95 and 70, while all-rounder Sakib scored a 50 in the first match and hauled in a five-for in the second.
Sohag Gazi was the man of the match in the first Test after becoming the first player in Test history to score a hundred and take a hat-trick in the same match. He also became the second Bangladeshi – after Sakib – to score a century and take a five-for in the same match, finishing with six wickets in the second innings.
With the series result, Bangladesh gains eight points in the ICC Test rankings and New Zealand drops four, though the changes do not alter their positions. The teams remain in 10th and 8th respectively.
The two teams will now play three One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 International.
The first ODI will be held at Mirpur on October 29.
BRIEF SCORES
Bangladesh 282 all out and 269-3 ( Mominul Haque 126 not out, Tamim Iqbal 70 ) and New Zealand 437 all out (C. Anderson 116, B. J. Watling 70 not out, K. Williamson 62, I. Sodhi 58, R. Taylor 53; Sakib al Hasan 5-103)
Result: Match draw
Series result: 0-0
Man of the match: Mominul Haque
Man of the series: Mominul Haque
-With New Age input
