KEY POINTS:
Sir Richard Hadlee got the centuries he begged for two weeks ago but precious little else on a strange and entertaining day at the world's most southern test venue.
By stumps, Bangladesh had pulled themselves back into the match by exposing New Zealand's myriad limitations as a test side.
Openers Tamim Iqbal and Zunaed Siddique, both on debut, made the most of a New Zealand attack that sleepwalked through the final two sessions, and an awful dropped catch by Iain O'Brien, to post 148-0.
The miss from O'Brien, off a Tamim skier when the classy left-hander had scored just eight, prompted one wag in the crowd to scrawl a message on his whiteboard that questioned O'Brien's value to the team in less flattering words. It was cruel, yet on this afternoon it was difficult to fault it for accuracy.
O'Brien's is a fledgling five-test career but he has some work to do before he convinces he belongs at this level after Tamim and Zunaed made him look ordinary.
Day three looms as not only pivotal for the match but for O'Brien's long-term international prospects.
He wasn't the only one who struggled however.
Neither Chris Martin nor Kyle Mills possessed the zip they had in the first innings yet still persisted with a diet of short-pitched bowling.
Even the wiles of skipper Daniel Vettori were comfortably combated as the opening pair posted Bangladesh's highest first-wicket partnership against any country.
New Zealand still holds the whip due to a 220-run first innings lead. They also know this Bangladesh batting line-up has a tendency to lose wickets in bunches.
So there will be no panic, just a sense they have missed an opportunity to put themselves in an impregnable position by the end of day two.
Matthew Bell, whose dismissal just before lunch precipitated a collapse of sorts, was a little dirty on himself for going out.
"I'm sure if we hadn't lost a wicket before lunch we would have gone on to amass a large total."
At the very least they now have a test on their hands. Centurion Jacob Oram said if anything the pitch, under such a cloud both literally and figuratively before the match, was getting better and better.
"[Friday] it had a wee bit of variable bounce. That was maybe where the pitch was still drying out but today it was beautiful to bat on."
Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful expressed surprise at the conditions too, saying it was more like a subcontinent pitch when he had been expecting a green seamer.
Day three wickets are normally when batting is at its easiest so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Bangladesh could bat at length and set up an intriguing fourth-innings chase.
Earlier, New Zealand failed to capitalise on two centuries, the first by New Zealand in a test for 20 months.
Bell moved from his overnight score of 74 to notch up a well-deserved comeback century, but the classiest effort came from allrounder Oram who dominated the Bangladeshis during his 117.
"I was very pleased with the way I batted," Oram, who now has four test centuries, said.
"It's been a while since my last one, not that we've played much test cricket to be honest, but it's always nice to contribute to a team score.
"I was actually a little bit surprised. We haven't played a lot of tests lately so to get back in the groove was nice.
"From the start on Friday, my feet were moving well and I was hitting the ball nicely."
The next highest score was Vettori's 32 in a disappointing card. Mashrafe Mortaza's pace did the most damage as he took four wickets, a welcome return to form for Bangladesh's best bowler.
He had a golden opportunity to grab a hat-trick after dismissing Oram and Mills in successive deliveries.
But O'Brien, not noted for his batting, squeezed out the hat-trick ball - it was the highlight of his day.
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh
First innings 137
New Zealand
First innings (overnight 156-4)
C Cumming lbw b Islam 1
M Bell lbw b Ashraful 107
P Fulton b Hossain 14
S Fleming c Rahim b Islam 14
M Sinclair lbw b Mortaza 29
J Oram b Mortaza 117
B McCullum c Siddique b Ashraful 7
D Vettori c Haque b Hossain 32
K Mills c Rahim b Mortaza 0
I O'Brien c Rahim b Mortaza 5
C Martin not out 12
Extras (4b, 10lb, 2w, 3nb) 19
Total (91 overs) 357
Fall: 5 (Cumming), 31 (Fulton), 58 (Fulton), 121 (Sinclair), 260 (Bell), 270 (McCullum), 320 (Oram), 320 (Mills), 340 (Vettori), 357 (O'Brien).
Bowling: S Hossain 18-0-95-2 (1nb), S Islam 19-2-71-2 (1nb 2w), M Mortaza 23-3-74-4, E Haque 22-4-57-0 (1nb), M Ashraful 9-0-46-2.
Bangladesh
Second innings
T Iqbal not out 72
Z Siddique not out 69
Extras (4lb, 3nb) 7
Total (for 0 wkts, 39 overs) 148
Bowling: C Martin 10-0-48-0 (2nb), K Mills 7-1-33-0, I O'Brien 4-0-23-0 (1nb), D Vettori 12-4-33-0, J Oram 6-2-7-0.
