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DHAKA - Bangladesh fought hard to stave off an embarrassing defeat against some quality New Zealand bowling as the second test finally ended in a draw on the fifth and final day here last night (NZT).
New Zealand clinched the two-match series 1-0 after they won the first test at Chittagong by three wickets. They nearly pulled off a highly unlikely win after the first three days were washed out.
The home team were facing a possible follow-on and with it a defeat at 44 for six before brilliant knocks by all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan (49) and Mashrafe Mortaza (48) helped them avoid the ignominy of batting for a second time.
With not much to play for, the tourists batted a second time and reached 79 for one before both captains decided to call off the match. Jesse Ryder followed his 91 in the first-innings with an unbeaten 39 while Aaron Redmond made 30 not out.
Opener Jamie How was dismissed for eight.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said while the series win was satisfying, it was also gratifying to see the progress made by some of the less experienced team members.
"Coming here and winning the series was always going to be a little bit more difficult that people presumed, and there's been some good performances along the way," he said afterwards.
"We're very inexperienced, particularly in the batting line-up, and to see guys like Aaron Redmond and Jesse Ryder stand up in these last test matches, and Daniel Flynn, has been very pleasing."
Vettori, who took 14 wickets over the two tests, also contributed with the bat, and said an unbeaten 55 and second innings 76 from the first test was particularly pleasing.
"Any spinner who comes to the sub-continent wants to make a mark, and I've been fortunate the last two times that things have gone my way.
"I've been particularly happy with my batting - that's always a good sign for me, and now I'm looking forward to trying to continue that in Australia."
The Black Caps' first game in Australia is a four-day match against New South Wales on November 13, with the first test scheduled to start in Brisbane on November 20 and the second in Adelaide eight days later.
Yesterday, Hasan and Mortaza put on a fighting 78-run stand for the seventh wicket which enabled Bangladesh to declare their first innings at 169 for nine, six more than required to avoid the follow-on.
Because the match became a two-day game after the first three days were washed out, Bangladesh needed to reach within 100 runs of New Zealand's first innings score of 262 for six declared to avoid batting a second time.
Resuming at 13 for three, the home side lost Mehrab Hossain (seven) when off-spinner Jeetan Patel turned one sharply into him, trapping him in front of the stumps.
Opener Tamim Iqbal, who saw three wickets fall in one Daniel Vettori over on Tuesday, took the score to 44 in the company of Mushfiqur Rahim before both fell in successive overs.
Vettori had Iqbal caught off a miscued drive while Rahim gloved a short delivery from paceman Iain O'Brien to wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum after scoring seven.
Mortaza and Hasan took Bangladesh past their lowest test score of 62 made against Sri Lanka at Colombo last year before Vettori ended Hasan's resistance by trapping him leg-before.
Vettori was the pick of visitors' bowling with 5-66, finishing with 14 wickets in two tests.
O'Brien, who finished with 3-31, had Mortaza caught before Abdur Razzak (16 not out) avoided the follow-on.
Bangladesh's hopes of levelling the two-match series were dashed by bad weather on the first three days and by sloppy batting on Tuesday.
New Zealand, who beat Bangladesh by an innings victory in three days at Hamilton in 2001 after the first two days were washed out, had harboured similar hopes until lunch before Hasan and Mortaza batted solidly.
There have been 19 cases of a test match finishing inside two days but no team has ever won a test after the first three days were washed out.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand
1st Innings: 262-6 dec
2nd Innings
Jamie How c Razzak b Mortaza 8
Aaron Redmond not out 30
Jesse Ryder not out 39
Extras: (1lb, 1nb) 2
TOTAL:(for one wicket) 79
Overs: 31. Batting time: 140 minutes
Fall of wickets: 1-8.
Did not bat: Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Daniel Vettori, Grant Elliot, Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jeetan Patel.
Bowling: Mashrafee bin Mortaza 5-1-14-1, Mahbubul Alam 3-1-12-0, Shakib Al Hasan 3-0-6-0, Shahadat Hossain 6-0-20-0 (1nb), Junaid Siddique 2-0-2-0, Mohammad Ashraful 1-0-4-0, Abdur Razzak 6-1-8-0, Mehrab Hossain 4-1-11-0, Tamim Iqbal 1-0-1-0.
Bangladesh
1st Innings
(Overnight: 13 for three)
Tamim Iqbal c Taylor b Vettori 24
Junaid Siddique st McCullum b Vettori 4
Mohammad Ashraful lbw b Vettori 0
Rajin Saleh lbw b Vettori 0
Mehrab Hossain lbw Patel 7
Mushfiqur Rahim c McCullum b O'Brien 7
Shakib Al Hasan lbw Vettori 49
Mashrafee bin Mortaza c Flynn b O'Brien 48
Abdur Razzak not out 16
Shahadat Hossain c Vettori b O'Brien 4
Extras: (2lb, 2nb, 6w) 10
TOTAL: (for nine wickets declared) 169
Overs: 58.1. Batting time: 240 minutes.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-13, 4-26, 5-44, 6-44, 7-122, 8-165, 9-169.
Did not bat: Mahbubul Alam
Bowling: Kyle Mills 9-4-22-0 (2nb), Iain O'Brien 13.1-3-31-2 (2w), Jeetan Patel 15-6-45-1, Daniel Vettori 19-6-66-5, Aaron Redmond 2-0-3-0.
Results: Match drawn.
Series: New Zealand wins 2-match series 1-0.
- AFP
