SYLHET, 29 Nov: Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed 4-89 as Bangladesh dominated the second day of the first 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 but Williamson defied them with solid defense 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 played Bangladesh’s lone pacer Shoriful Islam with ease 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 two overs later when Mehidy Hasan 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 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.
Offspinner Nayeem Hasan joined the party by dismissing Tom Blundell for 6 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 partenrship 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 brought an end to 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. (AP)