Sakib al Hasan was back close to his best but rain limited his success to just three wickets on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Heavy downpour prevented any play after the tea-break for the second consecutive day, keeping both teams on par as Sakib eradicated any advantage New Zealand had with early inroads into their batting order.
New Zealand would have thought they had done a good job when five quick wickets helped them restrict Bangladesh to 282 runs in their first innings, with the hosts adding just 54 to their overnight 228-5.
If that gave them a sense of complacency, it was quickly gone as Sakib struck back immediately to bring Bangladesh back in contention. The Kiwis were sitting nervous at 107-3 before rain intervened to force early stumps.
Sakib had been struggling with his bowling since his injury-forced lay-off and was relegated to a back-up bowler in the last two Test matches, something he was not accustomed to.
However, skipper Mushfiqur Rahim put some faith in his champion spinner this time, bringing him in ahead of Abdur Razzak, and the first dividend came off the sixth ball of his very first over.
Hamish Rutherford attempted to nudge the ball away but was beaten by the awkward bounce to present a catch to Mominul Haque, a typical Sakib wicket which promised further successes.
Sakib had to wait just two more deliveries for his next wicket, as Peter Fulton was adjudged lbw without offering a shot.
Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s best player against spin bowling, did some damage control, but his decision to leave the field after being struck by a Rubel Hossain bouncer provided Sakib with another opportunity.
Brendan McCullum was spectacularly caught by Rubel at deep square-leg to bring the third wicket for Sakib, the last before rain provided New Zealand some relief with no further damage.
Williamson resumed his innings and was on 28 not out at the close. Ross Taylor also survived the day on 37 not out.
Bangladesh were unlucky not to get any more wickets on the day, but the success of Sakib indicated that they still have plenty to hope for.
The pitch was under covers overnight, making it completely unpredictable, and New Zealand seemed to be the first beneficiaries.
Neil Wagner (5-64) made full use of the overcast conditions in the morning to induce some edges and complete his maiden five-wicket haul when play resumed 30 minutes early to make up for some of the overs lost to rain on the opening day.
The pitch also provided some vicious turn for leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, who chipped in with two more wickets, and Bangladesh lost their remaining five wickets in less than a session.
Wagner had Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim caught at gully for 18 before Sodhi beat Nasir Hossain with sharp turn to create a catch for Ross Taylor at slip for 19.
Sohag Gazi (14) launched a counter-attack, hitting a four and a six, but he could not repeat his heroics in the first Test, in which he scored an unbeaten century and claimed a hat-trick.
Wagner completed his first five-wicket haul in nine Tests with the wicket of Rubel before Sodhi bowled Razzak to wrap up the innings.
While celebrating the wickets, New Zealand also knew what was waiting for them and Sakib provided an early reminder, as his first eight deliveries accounted for his first two wickets.
Bangladesh v New Zealand
2nd Test, Day 3 live on
GTV and BTV from 9:30am
SCORECARD
Day 2
Bangladesh first innings (overnight 228-5)
Tamim c Williamson b Wagner 95
Anamul c Williamson b Boult 7
Marshall b Wagner 41
Mominul c Watling b Anderson 47
Sakib lbw b Sodhi 20
Mushfiq c Fulton b Wagner 18
Nasir c Taylor b Sodhi 19
Sohag c Williamson b Wagner 14
Razzak b Sodhi 13
Rubel c Watling b Wagner 4
Al-Amin not out 0
Extras (b2,lb1, w1) 4
Total (all out, 74.5 overs) 282
Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Anamul), 2-90 (Marshall), 3-166 (Mominul) 4-208 (Tamim), 5-228 (Sakib), 6-246 (Mushfiqur), 7-252 ( Nasir), 8-266 ( Sohag), 9-274 ( Rubel) 10-282 ( Razzak)
Bowling
Boult 16 2 55 1
Bracewell 14 1 57 0
Wegner 19 5 64 5
Sodhi 18.5 3 59 3
Williamson 4 0 30 0
Anderson 3 0 14 1
New Zealand first innings
Fulton lbw b Sakib 14
Rutherford c Mominul b Sakib 13
Williamson not out 28
Taylor not out 37
McCullum c Rubel b Sakib 11
Extras (b4) 4
Total (for three wickets. 33.3 overs) 107
Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Rutherford), 2-32 (Fulton), 3-101 (McCullum)
Bowling
Al-Amim 6 3 14 0
Sohag 6 0 13 0
Sakib 11 1 25 3
Razzak 5 1 33 0
Rubel 5.3 0 18 0
-With New Age input
