Cricket
Duo bolster Black Caps
2010-02-15 15:06
Hamilton - New Zealand were 258 for five at stumps on the first day of the only Test against Bangladesh at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Monday.
Martin Guptill will resume in the morning on 80, and Brendon McCullum on 58.
Two key wickets - those of Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori - fell in the
afternoon session, but Guptill and McCullum combined for a spirited,
unbeaten 100-run partnership.
They had to face several starts as bad light plagued the evening session, but saw these off without much fuss.
In his usual fashion, McCullum was the aggressor and Guptill the
anchor - the former hitting eight boundaries in his 71-ball innings,
while Guptill reached his second test half-century in a more sedate
fashion.
But runs were leaked more easily and the visitors will feel that they somewhat lost the momentum of the first session.
Shakib-al-Hasan was the pick of the visitors' attack, and, even
though he did not pick up a wicket, was the only one able to keep the
run-flow in check, conceding only 34 runs off his 20 overs bowled.
The man to wreak early havoc was Rubel Hossain, getting rid of
opener BJ Watling for 13, slashing at a full delivery to be caught at
slip, followed four overs later by Peter Ingram who pulled a short ball
to provide an easy running catch at mid-on.
Rain delayed the toss and start of the match for an hour, and,
in the end, together with the numerous interruptions for bad light,
only 68 overs were completed.
Teams:
New Zealand: TG McIntosh, BJ Watling, PJ Ingram, LRPL Taylor, MJ Guptill, DL Vettori (capt), BB McCullum (wk), DR Tuffey, JS Patel, TG Southee, CS Martin
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed,
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Shahadat Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain