Tigers bite back after Williamson ton

Cricket365
October 9, 2013

New Zealand reached stumps on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh on 280 for five, losing some late wickets after Kane Williamson's century put them in a commanding position in Chittagong.

Williamson's ton was his first of the year, and he was out just before the close having made 114. Also contributing heavily to the score was opener Peter Fulton, who had made 73 earlier in the day.

The Kiwis won the toss and chose to bat first on the newly laid track at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, and they got off to a steady start as the Tigers raced through the overs thanks to spin from both ends.

The morning session saw 35 overs bowled, with Sohag Gazi the man to get a wicket before lunch. Hamish Rutherford had patiently made 38 off 55 balls, including a six and three fours, before being caught by Abdur Razzak in the 23rd over.

Fulton and Williamson continued to the lunch break, with the former sedately making his way to 38 off 115 balls. Considering 20 of those runs came off five boundaries, that left a lot of defensive shots in the records.

The afternoon session belonged to the Black Caps again, as they added another 93 runs to the score for the loss of Fulton's wicket. The tall man brought up his half ton in 156 balls, while Williamson made his in 94.

Fulton was eventually out in the penultimate over of the session, when Nasser Hossain was brought on in the hopes of a 'golden arm' wicket. He delivered, and Monimul Haque took the catch in the covers.

The evening session saw three wickets fall as the Tigers clawed their way back into the game, early as it was. Abdur Razzak, newly returned to the side, bagged two of those wickets, removing Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum.

Taylor had started the session with Williamson and went on to make 28 off 47 balls, looking to up the tempo to more than three per over. He was caught by substitute fielder Naeem Islam in the 80th over though.

Williamson's ton came in 175 balls, but he was only able to add another 14 runs to it before being trapped LBW by all-rounder Shakib-al-Hassan. He was caught on the back leg, in front of middle and leg, thus giving him no reason to grumble.

McCullum's wicket in the next over brought about the close. The skipper had added 21 to the score, including three fours, but was also caught LBW, this time by Razzak. This left Bruce Martin on zero, who will be joined by BJ Watling in the morning.

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Marshall Ayub, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Abdur Razzak, Robiul Islam, Rubel Hossain

New Zealand, Peter Fulton. Hamish Rutherford, Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, BJ Watling, Doug Bracewell, Bruce Martin, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi