NZ vs BAN | 1st Test | Day-3: Liton, Mominul keep Kiwi bowlers at bay; Tigers stretch the lead

Bangladesh skipper Momniul Haque and experienced wicket-keeper batter Liton Das were at their very best in the batting lineup as they piled on the runs to take Bangladesh to a position of command by the end of day three of the first Test between the two sides going on at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

Resuming from their overnight score of 175-2, Bangladesh started with great intent as the two overnight batters Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mominul started playing shots. But it was one shot too many for Joy as he played a cut straight to gully off the bowling of Neil Wagner. Boult then removed Mushfiqur Rahim quickly and the Tigers were suddenly 203-4 for and looking down at a collapse, similar to what people have been accustomed to seeing from Bangladesh over the years.

But seems that the new year is different as not only did Momniul get a lifeline after being caught off the no-ball, Liton Das showed his class with the bat and the pair added 158 for the fifth wicket before Mominul felt short a well deserved hundred and was found plumb in front of an incoming seem up from Boult. He scored 88. Later Das too departed before making it to the three figures, playing lazy cut short without any movement and edging it to Tom Blundell behind the stumps. He was out on 86.

However, after that, there were no more hiccups and Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Yasir Ali finished the day with an unbeaten stand of 31 runs for the seventh wicket. At stumps, Bangladesh were 401-6, leading the Kiwis by 73 runs.

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A 103-run partnership between Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Najmul Hossain Shanto has put Bangladesh in a position that they could have only dreamt of before starting the Test series against the hosts New Zealand. Before their partnership, Joy has had a decent opening partnership with Shadman Islam to make Bangladesh look like a formidable Test side. The trio batted with impeccable patience for the large part of their stays at the crease and was rewarded with fortunate moments when they committed small mistakes which are bound to happen against the bowling attack comprising of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson. Wagner turned out to be the saviour for the Blackcaps once again and proved the old saying about him that he makes things happen true. He got Shadman Islam caught and bowled on a leg-stump half volley that a batsman would hit for a boundary on nine out of 10 occasions. Blackcaps pacers were not poor neither in their planning nor in execution and the only thing they could be disappointed about themselves will be their inability to force Bangladesh players to play a lot more than they did on the second day. At the end of the day, Bangladesh had worked their way to 175/2 and with just 1553 runs away from New Zealand’s first innings total of 328 runs. Eight wickets can fall quickly against a full-strength Blackcaps attack but that can’t take away the patience and discipline in both batting and bowling Bangladesh have shown on the first two days of the Test. Earlier on the second day, they wiped out the New Zealand lower-order batting order quite quickly before they could form troubling partnerships between them. Rachin Ravindra was the first man to go and he was caught low in the slips by Shadman Islam to give Shoriful Islam his third wicket of the innings. Henry Nicholls hit a brilliant 75 to form the glue that held the Blackcaps batting together and he forged good partnerships with first Jamieson and then Southee but both the right-handers fell into the traps laid by Mehidy Hasan Miraz to give Bangladesh real opportunity in the game. Bangladesh would be hoping Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who is batting unbeaten on 70 runs would go on and make a big hundred on the third day of the Test while others rise to the occasion and at least come closer to or surpass the Blackcaps’ first innings total. If they can manage to pull off 153 runs more, they can create some trouble for the Blackcaps with their spinner on a dry-looking pitch in Mount Maunganui.