Tigers avoid follow-on, Kiwis seal series
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Bangladesh made heavy weather of the battle to avoid the follow-on before the rain-shortened second and final Test against New Zealand ended in a predictable draw Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
The Kiwis, who dramatically won the first Test in Chittagong by three wickets, were 79 for one in the second innings when both captains agreed to end the fifth and final day with 17 overs to go at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
The draw means the erratic, depleted Black Caps have won the series 1-0.
Jesse Ryder was unbeaten on 39 and opener Aaron Redmond on 30 not out after Jamie How (8) fell to Mashrafee Bin Mortaza in the fifth over of the innings.
Riding on two timely and sensible knocks from Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafee, Bangladesh just managed to avoid the follow-on, after raising the spectre in the morning. They declared their first innings at 169 for nine, trailing by 93 runs, after making the worst possible start on the fourth day.
New Zealand had earlier declared their first innings at 262 for six Tuesday, in a bid to make a match of it, after three days were rained out.
Needing another 153 runs on the final day to avoid the follow-on, Bangladesh resumed the day on 13 for three and added 156 runs for six wickets to declare their first innings, forcing the visitors to bat again.
Fears of the follow-on loomed large when overnight batsman Mehrab Hossain Junior (7) fell shortly after the resumption, trapped leg before by Jeetan Patel. Skipper Daniel Vettori then had Tamim Iqbal caught by Ross Taylor for a painstaking 24.
Mushfiqur Rahim (7) soon followed Tamim, offering an easy catch behind to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum off Iain O'Brien, leaving the side at 44 for six.
Shakib and Mashrafee then waged the battle. The duo kept the Kiwi attack at bay and showed their more illustrious batting colleagues it was not as difficult as they had made it look to be on the flat pitch to negotiate the Black Caps bowlers.
The pair took Bangladesh to 104 for six at lunch before Vettori finally broke the 78-run seventh-wicket resistance. He made Shakib his fifth victim to reduce the hosts to 122 for seven immediately after lunch.
Shakib was just one shy of his second Test fifty having struck six boundaries off 87 balls, and when he left the hosts still needed another 41 runs to make New Zealand bat again.
Hard-hitting Mashrafee kept the runs coming, belting Vettori for three fours and one six in successive overs to take Bangladesh even more closer to safety.
Bangladesh were just eight runs away from the mark when Mashrafee fell to an Iain O'Brien short, rising delivery.
The right-hand batsman was unlucky not to get what would have been his third Test half-century. His battling 48 off 89 balls was studded with seven fours and two sixes.
Left-handed Abdur Razzak (16 not out) saw Bangladesh out of the follow-on danger by hammering two successive fours against Vettori, who returned five for 66.
Bangladesh declared their innings after the dismissal of Shahadat Hossain, the third scalp of O'Brien.
The Kiwis, who dramatically won the first Test in Chittagong by three wickets, were 79 for one in the second innings when both captains agreed to end the fifth and final day with 17 overs to go at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
The draw means the erratic, depleted Black Caps have won the series 1-0.
Jesse Ryder was unbeaten on 39 and opener Aaron Redmond on 30 not out after Jamie How (8) fell to Mashrafee Bin Mortaza in the fifth over of the innings.
Riding on two timely and sensible knocks from Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafee, Bangladesh just managed to avoid the follow-on, after raising the spectre in the morning. They declared their first innings at 169 for nine, trailing by 93 runs, after making the worst possible start on the fourth day.
New Zealand had earlier declared their first innings at 262 for six Tuesday, in a bid to make a match of it, after three days were rained out.
Needing another 153 runs on the final day to avoid the follow-on, Bangladesh resumed the day on 13 for three and added 156 runs for six wickets to declare their first innings, forcing the visitors to bat again.
Fears of the follow-on loomed large when overnight batsman Mehrab Hossain Junior (7) fell shortly after the resumption, trapped leg before by Jeetan Patel. Skipper Daniel Vettori then had Tamim Iqbal caught by Ross Taylor for a painstaking 24.
Mushfiqur Rahim (7) soon followed Tamim, offering an easy catch behind to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum off Iain O'Brien, leaving the side at 44 for six.
Shakib and Mashrafee then waged the battle. The duo kept the Kiwi attack at bay and showed their more illustrious batting colleagues it was not as difficult as they had made it look to be on the flat pitch to negotiate the Black Caps bowlers.
The pair took Bangladesh to 104 for six at lunch before Vettori finally broke the 78-run seventh-wicket resistance. He made Shakib his fifth victim to reduce the hosts to 122 for seven immediately after lunch.
Shakib was just one shy of his second Test fifty having struck six boundaries off 87 balls, and when he left the hosts still needed another 41 runs to make New Zealand bat again.
Hard-hitting Mashrafee kept the runs coming, belting Vettori for three fours and one six in successive overs to take Bangladesh even more closer to safety.
Bangladesh were just eight runs away from the mark when Mashrafee fell to an Iain O'Brien short, rising delivery.
The right-hand batsman was unlucky not to get what would have been his third Test half-century. His battling 48 off 89 balls was studded with seven fours and two sixes.
Left-handed Abdur Razzak (16 not out) saw Bangladesh out of the follow-on danger by hammering two successive fours against Vettori, who returned five for 66.
Bangladesh declared their innings after the dismissal of Shahadat Hossain, the third scalp of O'Brien.