The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Chittagong

A defiant fifth wicket unbroken stand of 139 between Mehrab Hossain(jr) and Mushfiqur Rahim enabled Bangladesh to frustrate the Kiwi bowlers as they scored 183 for four wickets on the first day of the Brac Bank first Test against New Zealand at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium here on Friday.

Southpaw Mehrab and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur came to the wicket with Bangladesh in dire straits at 44 for four in the 43rd over.

They stopped the rot with a brave unbroken fifth wicket partnership as Bangladesh total showed some respectability at 183 for four when the stumps were drawn on the first day of the first Test.

Mehrab was in his sublime best batting with aggression and caution to remain unbeaten on 79 runs studded with ten glittering boundaries.

The diminutive wicketkeeper Mushfiqur justified his skipper's faith in sending him to bat ahead of Shakib Al Hasan and Naeem Islam to support Mehrab and finished the day on an unbeaten 59 runs laced with nine boundaries and one effortless sixer.

Iain O'Brien and captain Daniel Vettori were the two successful New Zealand bowlers who took the early initiatives by capturing two wickets each. If the first two and a half sessions of the day belonged to the Kiwis, the last two and a half sessions saw two Bangladeshi youngsters Mehrab and Mushfiq defied the Kiwi bowlers to finish the day without any further blemish.

Early in the day, Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful won the important toss and elected to bat first without any hesitation.

Bangladesh's Australian Coach Jamie Siddons handed the test cap to debutant Naeem Islam who became the 51st cricketer to play Test matches for Bangladesh.

But Ashraful's move seemed backfired as the New Zealanders struck in the seventh ball of the match when Iain O'Brien trapped left-handed opener Zunaed Siddiqui in front of the wicket for a nought.

After Zunaed's dismissal Bangladesh batters went into the shell with the Kiwi bowlers dominating the hosts batsmen as Bangladesh crawled to 34 for one in the first session facing 32 overs.

But the standard of tight bowling by Kyle Mills and Iain O'Brien was hardly supported by New Zealand fielders who normally are credited as being one of the best fielding sides.

Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum and Aaron Redmond at second slip and Jeetan Patel at short leg-off floored down regulation catches allowing Bangladesh to crawl to lunch without any further loss.

Bangladesh's other southpaw opener Tamim Iqbal (18 off 88) and Rajin Saleh (16 off 103) took full use of the Kiwi fielders' generous mood giving some respite to the vociferous holiday crowd.

But after lunch, captain and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and fast bowler O'Brien were not in that benevolent mood like their fielders as they reduced Bangladesh to 101 for 4 at tea.

O'Brien and Vettori captured took two wickets apiece to put New Zealand on a commanding position.

Tamim Iqbal, normally a very aggressive batsman, batted with utmost care but just second ball after the lunch, he lunged forward for an attempted drive off Vettori only to edge behind wicketkeeper McCullum, who made no mistake to grab it. He scored 18 taking 90 deliveries and struck two boundaries.

Rajin Saleh was the next to go, played on O'Brien deliveries on to his stumps after consuming 129 balls for his 20.

Skipper Ashraful to the dismay of the partisan crowd, missed Vettori full toss and was trapped lbw in the next over. Suddenly, Bangladesh from 34 for one were tottering at 44 for 4 after 43 overs.

Mehrab and Mushfiqur then led the fightback with a Bangladesh Test record unbroken fifth wicket partnership of 139 with the home fans cheering every single run. The previous record fifth wicket stand was between Aminul Islam Bulbul and Mohammad Ashraful of 126, achieved in 2001 against Sri Lanka.

Mehrab showed his top-order colleagues the way to play, slamming ten boundaries in his unbeaten 79 0ff 164 deliveries.

Mushfiqur was more subdued, plodding along to 59 off 145 balls.

It will be a vital first session tomorrow whether these two batsmen would score more runs to add some respectability to Bangladesh total or the Kiwi bowlers would like to polish off Bangladesh tail to allow their batsmen to take full control of the proceedings.