The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Wellington

Lanky fast bowler Chris Martin took five for 65 as New Zealand dismissed Bangladesh for 143 then reached on 134 for three at stumps Saturday, the first day of the second cricket test.

New Zealand was 35 for two before former captain Stephen Fleming and opener Craig Cumming joined in an 83-run third wicket partnership which restored the authority the home side had enjoyed from the opening overs.

Cumming was out for 42 before stumps but Fleming held the innings together and was 39 not out at the close of play. Mathew Sinclair was nine not out.

Martin's eighth five-wicket haul in tests lifted him to sixth-equal on New Zealand's all-time test wicket-taking list with 123, level with Ewen Chatfield and behind Sir Richard Hadlee (431), Daniel Vettori (237), Chris Cairns (218), Danny Morrison (160) and Lance Cairns (130).

Vettori won the toss Saturday and sent Bangladesh in to bat, as he did in the first test at Dunedin when New Zealand hurried the tourists out for 137 and went on to win by nine wickets.

Charged by Martin's performance, New Zealand took only 45.3 overs to wreck Bangladesh's first innings and take charge of a match being played on a evenly-paced, even docile batting wicket.

Impulsiveness, lack of patience and poor shot selection contributed to the rapid decline of Bangladesh's innings.

Of the Bangladesh batsmen, only Aftab Ahmed, who batted 108 minutes and was not out 25, dedicated himself to crease occupation.

Others couldn't restrain themselves from playing shots and Bangladesh's innings included 18 fours and two sixes or 84 runs from boundaries.

Martin, a tall right-armer, exploited that rashness, maintaining an attacking line to both right and left handers. He slanted the ball across the left-handed batsmen and brought it back to the right handers, varying his length and pace.

Martin bowled with genuine quickness in front of a strong northerly breeze, becoming the new spearhead of a New Zealand attack which is depleted by the absence of Shane Bond.

His new ball partner, Kyle Mills, made the first inroad into the Bangladesh order, dismissing opener Tamim Iqbal for 15 in the eighth over of the day. Martin then became the principal threat to the Bangladesh batsmen, removing veteran Habibul Bashar (1) and opener Zunaed Siddique (13) before lunch and Mushfiqur Rahim (8), Shakib Al Hasan (5) and Sajidul Islam (6) during a productive second spell in the afternoon.

Iain O'Brien, selected as New Zealand's third seamer and given the onerous responsibility of bowling into the wind, was rewarded with three wickets for 34 runs from 15 overs. O'Brien, a tenacious medium pace stock bowler, removed Shahriah Nafees (6), Shahadat Hossain (1) and made the critical breakthrough when he removed captain Mohammad Ashraful for 35.

Ashraful had dashed his 35 runs from 51 balls with six fours when he was judged caught behind by Brendon McCullum off O'Brien in the 24th over. Replays indicated the ball, passing between bat and pad and deflecting to McCullum, might have grazed the pad but missed the bat by some distance.

McCullum took three catches in the innings and Peter Fulton snatched two at slip as the Bangladesh batsmen chased wide deliveries and feathered catches to the wicketkeeper or slip cordon.

Fleming's catch at first slip to remove Sajidul was his 164th in tests and lifted him to second equal with Brian Lara on the world all-time list of test catches. Australia's Mark Waugh, with 181 catches in 128 tests, holds the record.