Black Caps bowler Neil Wagner celebrates his wicket of Mominul Haque. Photo / Getty
Black Caps bowler Neil Wagner celebrates his wicket of Mominul Haque. Photo / Getty
By Niall Anderson at Seddon Park
Bangladesh were poised to give the Black Caps a fierce fight, but then Neil Wagner put them on the back foot - literally.
Wagner's traditional short-ball barrage was too much for the visitors to handle, as they wasted an exceptional innings from Tamim Iqbal, slumping from 121-1 to 234 all out on day one of the first test at Hamilton's Seddon Park.
At stumps, the Black Caps had waltzed to 86-0, to take a semblance of control which didn't look likely when Iqbal was unleashing.
Early on, the Bangladesh opener was on track to become just the seventh player to score a century before lunch on the first day of a test. While he ended up 15 runs short of that honour, he reached his ninth test century shortly after lunch, needing just 100 balls to raise his bat and soak in the applause from his teammates, and an alarmingly sparse crowd.
After failing in the one-day series, Iqbal's bold strategy was to continue batting like he was playing an ODI, and this time it worked, as Bangladesh flew out of the gates. Tim Southee was going at eight an over, 25 overs went by without a maiden, and with some early contributions from Shadman Islam, Bangladesh raced to three figures in no time.
Facing a team so potent with the new ball, Bangladesh's opening stand of 57 was the biggest against New Zealand in tests since 2017, and having seen off Southee and Trent Boult after toss-winning captain Kane Williamson had described the pitch as 'not normal', it sure was an unusual start.
The following two sessions though were more familiar though, as Wagner made his mark. He had opened his account before lunch – strangling Mominul Haque down the legside as he tried to leave a bouncer - and it was a sign of what was to come.
His victims all fell into the same predictable trap. Mohammad Mithun tried to hook a ball from outside off stump and skied it to midwicket, Mahmudullah and Liton Das both top edged pulls into the awaiting gullet of Boult at fine leg, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz fended a delivery straight to Henry Nicholls at short leg, as Wagner picked up where he left off.
Black Caps bowler Neil Wagner celebrates his wicket of Mominul Haque. Photo / Getty
Having taken 4-48 in his last outing against Sri Lanka, Wagner had spent two months in domestic cricket, but picked up his first five-wicket bag since 2017 on test resumption. While he was typically tough to deal with, there was also a severe lack of application from the Bangladeshi batsmen, who showed no inclination of emulating Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews' efforts at the Basin Reserve last year, limply losing their wickets and letting down Iqbal's innings.
While given a life by Colin de Grandhomme on 65, Iqbal was fantastic, carving an array of drives through the covers, stepping outside off-stump to open up the pull shot, yet rarely looking out of control as he reached three figures for the first time against New Zealand.
His 128-ball 126 ended in disappointing fashion – guiding de Grandhomme straight to Williamson at gully – but he had teed up his side in stellar fashion. When nobody else could pass 30, the opportunity was wasted, a blow that was further enhanced when Jeet Raval (51) and Tom Latham (35) started strongly.
Raval saw several deliveries just whizz by his off stump, while Latham was dropped second ball, but after seeing off that tough opening period, they hunkered down to give the Black Caps an ascendancy they wouldn't have expected, but definitely deserved.
