KEY POINTS:
Bangladesh were 101 for four at tea on the opening day of the first test against New Zealand at the Divisional Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.
Resuming after lunch on 34 for one after a pedestrian beginning, Bangladesh slumped to 44 for four early in the middle session before Mehrab Hossain (42) and Mushfiqur Rahim (19) combined to add 57 for the fifth wicket.
Captain Daniel Vettori and Iain O'Brien both snared two wickets, the latter having the remarkable figures of two for four off 11 overs.
A charmed Bangladesh made painfully slow progress on the opening session after opting to bat first.
Although New Zealand's bowling attack maintained a stranglehold from the opening over, woeful catching enabled Bangladesh to at least conserve wickets as they seek to set a respectable total.
Opener Tamim Iqbal was on 18 off 88 balls while Rajin Saleh cribbed 16 off 103 after both were dropped on zero.
O'Brien, included at the expense of teenage pace bowler Tim Southee, struck with his first delivery - the seventh of the innings - when he had Junaid Siddique plumb leg before wicket for a golden duck.
O'Brien's joy was short lived however when his next ball clipped the edge of Saleh's bat only for a slow-reacting Brendon McCullum to grass a regulation catch.
The wicketkeeper's blemish was the first of several let-offs, that have not yet proved costly due to Bangladesh's ultra defensive approach.
After O'Brien was denied the chance of obtaining a hattrick, fellow opening bowler Kyle Mills had Iqbal spilled at second spill by Aaron Redmond - the first of two clangers committed by New Zealand's opening batsman.
Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva also conspired against New Zealand - and Jesse Ryder - after he inexplicably turned down a clear leg before appeal against Saleh off the debutant's third ball.
Saleh, who never looked comfortable, also copped a painful blow on the hand after losing track of an attempted Jacob Oram bouncer.
But crucially he did survive the session, likewise Iqbal who was granted another reprieve on eight when an injudicious paddle sweep ballooned to short leg where Redmond was unable to grasp a regulation catch.
Jeetan Patel was the unlucky bowler - one of five used by Vettori as the captain wisely rotated his resources in 35C heat. Vettori brought himself on in the 21st over and saw his third ball lofted down the ground by Iqbal for one of just two boundaries in the session.
Mills and O'Brien set the tone with their opening spell conceding just four runs from 66 balls. New Zealand delivered 32 overs in the session, 20 of which were maidens.
- NZPA
