Tea New Zealand 186 for 2 (Latham 65*, Taylor 36*) trail Bangladesh 595 for 8 dec (Shakib 217, Mushfiqur 159, Mominul 64, Tamim 56, Sabbir 54*, Wagner 4-151) by 412 runs
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Kane Williamson was exquisite off the back foot during his 53 off 55 balls © AFP
Bangladesh were not unlike that person who becomes the life of the party for the first time. They began the day on 542 for 7, batting through the first hour or so when they could easily have cracked on and bowled. They had had a taste of the limelight and didn’t want to give it up. They again, considering one of their bowlers picked up a wicket off the first ball he bowled and another on Test debut – not to mention playing his first first-class match in four years – dismissed one of the best batsman in the world when he was well set, they earned the right to live it up a bit. At tea on the third day, Bangladesh retained a lead of 412 runs, which said plenty considering New Zealand were 186 for 2.
Taskin Ahmed and long-form cricket have been on break since 2013. It was just too demanding and his body just couldn’t keep up. Many have tried to rekindle that relationship and on Saturday at the Basin Reserve they could all sit back and say, “we helped do that.” The 21-year old fast bowler could have picked up a wicket in his first over but he had a catch dropped in the slips. He suffered further, conceding eight fours in his 11 overs but eventually, he found the edge again and Kane Williamson, having just got to fifty, was walking back. Taskin had hit the jackpot as far as maiden Test wickets were concerned and a smile as poignant as the tears he shed upon receiving his Bangladesh cap from bowling coach Courtney Walsh indicated he knew it too.
New Zealand, for their part, made sure the bowlers had to produce moments of brilliance to earn their wickets. The pitch was flat, it had perhaps gotten a bit quicker as well after two days in the sun, meaning there was little danger in hitting the ball through the line. That fact best was represented by the middle session’s numbers: 121 runs in 25 overs at 5.24 per over. Tom Latham had moved on to his 12th Test half-century and along side him was Ross Taylor, back in the New Zealand team after eye surgery and whacking the ball so beautifully – 24 of his 36 runs came via fours – that there was no question of his form being affected by the break.
New Zealand’s rush for runs was instigated by their captain. It is unclear whether Williamson was venting against the fact that he had captained the team into giving away their second-biggest total – 595 for 8 – after inserting the opposition in but he did begin his innings with a flurry of boundaries. There were three in four balls – a punch through mid-off, a flick through square leg and a glide past gully, all of the back foot.
Confirmation that Williamson was indeed going on a cathartic rant came in the 22nd over. For one, it was set off by a perfectly innocuous thing – a back of a length delivery on fourth stump. For another, he went to a great deal of effort to make his point, leaping up off his toes to get on top of the bounce while still somehow keeping the bat face straight. That poor red Kookaburra was so scared that it went and hid at the point boundary.
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Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo