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Mominul Century Puts New Zealand Under Pressure

by John Pennington Friday 11 October 2013

Mushfiqur Rahim (left) and Nasir Hossain backed up Mominul Haque with runs of their own

©REUTERS / Action Images

New Zealand 469 (Williamson 114, Watling 103) v
Bangladesh 380-7 (Mominul Haque 181)
First Test, Chittagong, day three

Mominul Haque converted his blazing start on day two into a maiden Test century on day three of the first Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Chittagong.

His 181 in 274 balls enabled Bangladesh to close on 380 for seven having made a strong response to New Zealand's 469 all out.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim made 67 and Nasir Hossain 46 although New Zealand chipped away, Doug Bracewell and Corey Anderson taking two wickets apiece to keep the tourists in with a chance of taking a first innings lead.

Only Mushfiqur Rahim (200) and Mohammad Ashraful (190) have scored more runs for Bangladesh in one Test match innings, it is the highest score by a Bangladeshi registering his maiden Test century and he becomes just the fourth Bangladesh player to pass 150 (Mushfiqur, Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal are the others).

Mominul had cracked 77 in 71 balls late on day two and he kept up that pace to reach his century in 98 balls, before slowing down somewhat as he lost partners Marshall Ayub (25) and Shakib Al Hasan (19).

Ayub faced 109 balls before he became Anderson's maiden Test wicket and Shakib was caught by BJ Watling off Kane Williamson as New Zealand's first-innings centurions combined in the field.

That left Bangladesh at 180 for four and as Mominul reined in his attacking instincts, he was joined by Mushfiqur, whose 67 came in 119 balls and included 10 fours and two sixes during a partnership of 121.

It was broken when Mominul's vigil was ended by Anderson, who had him trapped in front. In all, he faced 274 balls and hit 27 fours.

Mushfiqur fell five balls later when he was caught by Ross Taylor off Doug Bracewell but Nasir (46 in 65 balls) and Sohag Gazi (28 not out) then put on 70 for the seventh wicket to frustrate New Zealand.

However, Nasir fell with four overs remaining in the day, leaving Gazi unbeaten alongside Abdur Razzak on one following another up and down day in a Test match full of twists and turns.