Fifteen wickets fell on day one of the second and final Test match between Bangladesh and New Zealand as the hosts were all out in their first innings and the Kiwis lost half the side before bad light brought an early end to proceedings in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Wednesday.
The Mirpur pitch was a topic of discussion prior to the second Test, particularly after a lively and sporting wicket in the first Test in Sylhet where Bangladesh won by 150 runs.
Not surprisingly, the pitch in the Mirpur Test produced another rank turner which saw Bangladesh bowled out for just 172 in 66.2 overs while New Zealand are also struggling losing five for 55 in 12.4 overs.
Bangladesh skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bat first.
Bangladesh were unchanged from the first Test while New Zealand dropped leggie Ish Sodhi and replaced him with left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.
The weather was gloomy at the home of cricket from the morning as floodlights were switched on at the beginning and remained that way almost throughout the day’s play.
Tigers’ opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan started cautiously but it was seen from the first few overs that batters were struggling a bit to time the ball.
New Zealand skipper Tim Southee brought on spin after just five overs as Ajaz Patel and Santner started bowling from both ends considering that the wicket was already producing enough turn and bounce.
Both the Kiwi spinners got success as Zakir (eight) was dismissed in the 11th over by Santner and Joy (14) in the very next over by Patel.
Bangladesh lost two more wickets in the first session as Shanto (nine) and Mominul Haque (five) also returned to the pavilion for single digit scores.
The experienced Mushfiqur Rahim and rookie Shahadat Hossain formed a 57-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Mushfiq got out in a bizarre way as the veteran batter was out for obstructing the field in the 41st over.
New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson was bowling to Mushfiq and having played a defensive shot, the batter pushed the ball away with his gloves after defending it.
Umpires went upstairs after the appeal and Mushfiq (35 off 83) was given out as he became the first Bangladeshi to get dismissed for obstructing the field across any format in international cricket.
Soon Shahadat (31 off 102) also lost his wicket chasing a wide delivery in the leg side.
Later, Bangladesh lost regular wickets to get bundled out well below 200.
In reply, New Zealand also started losing wickets in clusters after a brisk start as they lost their first one in the sixth over with the score on 20.
Spin bowling duo Taijul Islam and Mehedi Hasan Miraz kept the pressure on the Kiwi batters and took four more wickets to push the visitors to the back foot.
The key dismissal was that of Kane Williamson (13 off 14) who scored a century in the first innings of the first Test.
Bad light stopped play with almost nine overs still remaining and the Black Caps trailing by 117 runs in the first innings.
2ND TEST, DAY 1
Bangladesh 172 in 66.2 overs (Mushfiq 35, Phillips 3/31) lead New Zealand 55/5 in 12.4 overs (Miraz 3/17, Taijul 2/29) by 117 runs