Lynn McConnell
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1st Test: New Zealand v Bangladesh at Hamilton, 18-22 Dec 2001 Lynn McConnell |
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New Zealand 1st innings:
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His first was scored on the same ground against Pakistan at the end of last summer.
However, the delight at his 145 ball, and 262 minute feat, was immediately tempered when his partner in a 190-run stand for the fifth wicket Craig McMillan was dismissed for 106 in the same over.
New Zealand reached 300/5 when nine overs were left.
Bangladesh were interminably slow in getting through their overs and when the players returned 20 overs remained to be bowled in the day and there was every chance play would continue past 8pm in the evening.
Fortunately, ground lights have recently been installed at WestpacTrust Park and they were turned on soon after the players returned as thunder reverberated around the environs of the ground, but did not drop any more rain.
With McMillan's dismissal at 241/5, Chris Cairns joined Richardson and they contined the run scoring apace as it looked as if New Zealand might look to bowl at Bangladesh this evening.
One extra cover drive Cairns hit, to start his scoring, was the shot of the day, a powerful blow that was soon followed some more controlled shots as the pair quickly added 50 runs in 59 balls.
Richardson surpassed the 106 he scored against Pakistan last year and just after the 300 was posted he was on 119. Cairns was 40 not out.
The thunderstorm rolled in just before the tea break at which stage New Zealand were 236/4 with Craig McMillan having already achieved his fifth Test century, in 173 minutes off 136 balls.
They had added 185 runs in their partnership after coming together with New Zealand in the embarrassing position of 51/4 against Test cricket's minnows.
McMillan built a sensible innings before getting himself tied up passing through the 90s while Richardson had three lives before he reached 50 but then became much more assertive in passing through from 50 to 96.
The Bangladeshi bowlers had their figures significantly altered after the first session which was easily the finest in their brief Test history.
Manjurul Islam went to lunch with the fine figures of 10 overs four maidens, two wickets for 20 runs but when the storm struck his figures were 18 overs and two wickets for 66 runs.
Also suffering was Mohammed Sharif whose 10 overs cost 54 runs, with his last three yielding 25 runs.
New Zealand went on the attack straight after the lunch break and at one stage added 35 runs in five overs and by the time of the drinks break in the afternoon session had added 77 runs off 15 overs.
After going to lunch on 93/4, the pair achieved their respective half centuries as New Zealand negotiated the first hour by adding 77 runs to be 170/4.
Richardson was 74 not out, for his eighth Test half century, and McMillan was 62, his 15th half century.
Richardson offered two chances immediately after the lunch break but was not unsettled and reached his half century with a well-executed square cut off Monjural's bowling. He took 173 minutes and 89 balls.
New Zealand's 100 also came up at the same stage.
McMillan started to look especially impressive as conditions turned back in favour of the batsmen. Some of his back-foot shots were vintage quality and suggested he could cause big problems as the bowlers started to tire.
Richardson was not quite so controlled as McMillan and offered the field chances but he managed to survive and started to time his shots square on the off-side with more precision.
After going to lunch with some impressive bowling figures, the Bangladeshis were not quite so impressive an hour into the session with Manjurul Islam two for 57.
At one stage New Zealand, having been asked to bat, were 51 for four. However, a partial recovery in the remainder of the extended first session saw them go to lunch at 93 for four wickets.
Richardson was not out on 42 and Craig McMillan was 26 not out. Despite the fact it was a two and a half hour session, Bangladesh only managed 30 overs in the session.
It was a horror start for New Zealand, after the high points of their efforts in Australia, and then after waiting around for two days to play.
Somewhere in between the discipline that marked the efforts in Australia departed the top and middle-order as the under-rated Bangladesh bowlers punished the Kiwis for strokes unbecoming on the first morning of a Test match.
The worst offender was Lou Vincent in his first Test on New Zealand soil, who without even bothering to get the pace of the wicket, decided to attempt a hook shot to a shorter ball from Mashrafi Bin Murtaza.
He failed to get anything like sufficient bat to the ball and the ball skied high in the air to be caught by the bowler following through. Only one run was on the board.
Mathew Sinclair was caught behind by wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud from the bowling of left-arm bowler Manjural Islam for seven. New Zealand were 19 for two wickets.
Stephen Fleming saw only 10 runs added before he was caught by Mashud from Mushraful after following a ball to depart for four.
Then just after having seen the 50 posted off 90 ball, Nathan Astle got a good ball from the bowler of the morning Monjural which was well held at slip by Al-Sahariar for five.
New Zealand was 51/4 with Mark Richardson having dug in to play an anchor role, with a high degree of certainty in most things he did.
Craig McMillan, who was looking forward to batting at one of his more favourite grounds in New Zealand, took time to settle in, but once he did the trademark power in his shots was soon flowing.
One back foot drive for four and some late cuts off the back foot sizzled across a damp outfield that had meant it was 62 minutes before the first boundary was scored, by Richardson.
Manjural had a fine spell, bowling unchanged for 10 overs, to have two wickets for 20 runs, with four maidens. While not lightning fast, the bowlers used the conditions well and had the rewards for their accuracy and pressure.
Genial medium-fast bowler Mashrafi Bin-Murtaza could hardly believe his luck when he had a wicket from the third ball of the Test, courtesy of an extravagant attempted hook by Lou Vincent, who scored a century and a half-century in his debut Test two weeks ago in Perth.
He skied the ball which flew high enough to be easily caught by Mashrafi on his follow through. New Zealand had one run at the time while the ball was the first Vincent faced.
The Test has taken two days to get started and all the talk was of how much time New Zealand would take to win, perfect fodder for any underdog, and Bangladesh responded well.
Mathew Sinclair fell to another jab outside off stump after scoring seven runs and off the 18th ball he was caught by wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud from left-arm medium-pacer Monjural Islam. New Zealand were 19/2.
Captain Stephen Fleming looked to get back into the watching and leaving game to balls outside the off-stump and had scored four runs when he tentatively followed a ball from Mushrafi to offer another chance to Mashud which was willingly taken.
Mushrafi had two for 23, and the accurate Monjural had one for six from his five overs
Two days have been lost to rain and while some parts of the outfield are damp the umpires, David Orchard (South Africa) and Tony Hill (New Zealand) have decided to make a start.
A total of 315 overs remain to be bowled in the match and the follow on requirement has been dropped to 150, instead of the usual 200.
The toss was made before the scheduled start on the second morning and was won by Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahshud. He asked New Zealand to bat.
Conditions are fine and humid and the chance is that there will be a full day's play with the extra hour being brought in.
The teams for the game are:
New Zealand: MH Richardson, L Vincent, MS Sinclair, *SP Fleming, NJ Astle, CD McMillan, CL Cairns, +AC Parore, DL Vettori, SE Bond, CS Martin.
Bangladesh: Javed Omar, Al Sahariar, Habibul Bashar, Aminul Islam, Mohammad Ashraful, Sanwar Hossain, Khaled Mahmud, *+Khaled Mashud, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Sharif, Manjural Islam.
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Date-stamped : 20 Dec2001 - 22:35