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BAN vs NZ 1st Test: Taijul keeps Bangladesh ahead despite Williamson's ton

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed 4-89 as Bangladesh dominated the second day of the opening test against New Zealand on Wednesday despite a century from Kane Williamson on a spin-friendly pitch

New Zealand's Kane Williamson leaves the pitch after he is caught off the bowing of England's Matthew Potts during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 3, 2022.  AP/PTI(

Kane Williamson. Photo: PTI

AP Sylhet (Bangladesh)

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Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed 4-89 as Bangladesh dominated the second day of the opening test against New Zealand on Wednesday despite a century from Kane Williamson on a spin-friendly pitch.

Williamson hit a 104 for his 29th century amid a relentless spin attack as New Zealand reached 266-8 at stumps, trailing by 44 runs.

Bangladesh folded on its overnight score of 310 when skipper Tim Southee had Shoriful Islam out leg before wicket with the first ball of the morning.

The home side's spinners got into act immediately, turning the balls admirably to trouble the New Zealand batters. Still, Williamson defied them with solid defence to keep the visitors in the game.

 

He got support from Glenn Phillips (42) and Daryl Mitchell (41) before the Bangladeshi bowlers made inroads in the last hour with the second new ball.

It is one of those surfaces where it is hard to get a rhythm. You will get some good balls as well. I thought the application was good, Williamson said.

It would have been naturally nice to get a few more. Everybody would like to be out there fighting for the side. It has certainly posed a number of challenges out there. The wicket is deteriorating quite quickly, so we have to keep moving with it.

Openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway easily played Bangladesh's lone pacer Shoriful Islam but found it much tougher against offspinner Mehidy Hasan and left-arm spinner Taijul Isalm.

Taijul bowled a tight line and the pressure eventually paid off when Latham, who had hit three fours in his 21 runs, tried to sweep but could only top-edge a catch to Nayeem Hasan at backward square leg.

Conway followed him a couple of overs later when Mehidy Hasan Miraz had him caught by Shahadat Hossain at the silly point as he tried to defend a quicker delivery when on 12.

On an increasingly deteriorating pitch, Williamson added 54 runs with Henry Nicholls (19) before the latter edged pacer Shoriful Islam (1-44).

Mitchell counterattacked and hit Taijul for a six, but the left-arm spinner eventually had him stumped to end a 66-run partnership.

Off-spinner Nayeem Hasan joined the party by dismissing Tom Blundell for six as New Zealand was left on 175-5.

With Bangladesh looking to expose the tail of New Zealand, Williamson found support from Glenn Phillips.

Together they kept the spinners at bay, using their feet well, prompting skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto to go to occasional bowler Mominul Haque for the breakthrough.

And, Mominul broke the 78-run partnership in his first over as Phillips edged a delivery behind.

Williamson then raised his fourth century in as many games off 189 balls, clipping Nayeem behind the square for a single.

But, when the second new ball was taken, Taijul ended his masterclass with an arm delivery which went straight to rattle his stump.

If you drop some chances, it will be a costly one," Bangladesh spin bowling coach Rangana Herath said.

"You saw the Kane Williamson ones. He gave opportunities on 63 and 70. He got a hundred. He got the innings going. We need to get those chances as much as we can.

Taijul also dismissed Ish Sodhi to edge Bangladesh closer to a valuable lead before bad light forced stumps.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Nov 30 2023 | 7:34 AM IST

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