Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed 4/89 as Bangladesh dominated the second day of the opening Test against New Zealand in spite of a century from Kane Williamson on a spin-friendly pitch.
Williamson hit 104 for his 29th Test ton amid a relentless spin attack as New Zealand reached 266/8 at stumps on Wednesday, still trailing by 44 runs.
Bangladesh folded on their overnight score of 310 when New Zealand skipper Tim Southee had Shoriful Islam out leg-before wicket off the first ball of the morning. The host spinners then 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. Glenn Phillips (42) and Daryl Mitchell (41) gave support before the Bangladesh bowlers made inroads in the last hour with the second new ball.
“It’s one of those surfaces where it’s hard to get a rhythm. You will get some good balls as well. I thought the overall application was good,” Williamson said later.
“It would have been naturally nice to get a few more. Everybody would like to be out there fighting for the side.
“The conditions have certainly posed a number of challenges out there. The wicket is deteriorating quite quickly, so we have to keep moving with it,” Williamson pointed out.
Openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway easily played Bangladesh’s lone pacer Shoriful but found it tougher against off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul.
Left-armer Taijul bowled a tight line and the pressure eventually paid off when Latham, who had hit three fours for his 21 runs, tried to sweep but could only top-edge a catch to Nayeem Hasan at backward square leg.
Conway followed a couple of overs later when Miraz had him caught by Shahadat Hossain at silly point as he tried to defend a quicker delivery when on 12. On an increasingly deteriorating pitch, Williamson added 54 with Henry Nicholls (19) before the latter fell to Shoriful (1/44).
Mitchell counterattacked and hit Taijul for a six, but the latter eventually had him stumped to end a 66-run stand.
