New Zealand seal series with innings victory over Tigers

March 13, 2019 00:00:00

Abu Jayed and Ebadat Hossain leaving the field after being dismissed at the conclusion of day five of the second Test against New Zealand at Basin Reserve at Wellington in New Zealand on Tuesday — Internet

WELLINGTON, Mar 12 (AP): Neil Wagner again bounced out the middle and lower order to seal New Zealand's victory by an innings and 12-over Bangladesh in the second cricket Test and a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Bangladesh resumed on the final day at 80-3 on Tuesday, still trailing by 141 runs after New Zealand declared at 432-6 with an overall first-innings lead of 221. The tourists were eventually all out for 209.

A brave innings of 67 by captain Mahmudullah delayed New Zealand's push for victory and it was forced to claim an extra 15 minutes after the scheduled lunch break to claim the last two wickets it needed to seal the match and series.

Wagner dismissed Mahmudullah in that period to claim his fifth wicket, to finish with innings figures of 5-45 and match figures of 9-73. Trent Boult then bowled Ebadot Hossain to end the match and finish with 4-52.

New Zealand won the first Test at Hamilton by an innings and 52 runs and is pushing for a sweep in the third Test, which starts at Christchurch on Saturday.

New Zealand's victory at the Basin Reserve was more extraordinary because the first two days of the match were entirely lost to rain, yet it managed to win in less than 2-1/2 days or seven extended sessions.

"It was a fantastic performance with a limited amount of cricket," New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said. Williamson wasn't on the field at the end, resting because of a shoulder injury while wicketkeeper B.J. Watling also had to be replaced by a substitute fielder on the final day.

"To be not quite at our best with the ball in the first innings but to still be effective enough to bowl Bangladesh out for 200 was important," Williamson said. "Then we had to score quickly to have a chance of a result in this game going in our favor. A fantastic double century from Ross (Taylor) and some other good contributions put us in that position.

"We were under a bit of pressure at the end of the first day and obviously the wicket was offering a lot. We didn't see it unfolding as it did."