New Zealand 432 for 6 dec (Taylor 200, Nicholls 107, Williamson 74, Jayed 3-94) beat Bangladesh 211 (Tamim 74, Wagner 4-28, Boult 3-38) and 209 (Mahmudullah 67, Wagner 5-45, Boult 4-52) by an innings and 12 runs
In the end this was much like the very first Test match between these two sides, back in December 2001. Then, like now, rain washed away the first two days. And now, like then, New Zealand have found a way to win regardless, by an innings to boot.
New Zealand began day five needing seven wickets, with Bangladesh trailing by 141. It only took the hosts one session, albeit one extended at both ends, to complete the job, with their left-arm quicks Neil Wagner and Trent Boult leading the way.
Wagner was the chief wrecking ball on day five, picking up 5 for 37 in a 10-over spell of typically hostile and accurate short-pitched bowling. When he came on, Bangladesh were 116 for 4, having lost only one wicket in the first 14 overs of the day, Boult squaring up Soumya Sarkar with movement and bounce in the corridor. This was after Soumya had added 57 with Mohammad Mithun in a fourth-wicket partnership that seemed to suggest there wasn’t too much help in this pitch once the ball lost its initial hardness and shine.
Wagner’s one-of-a-kind bowling style, however, forces batsmen into a contest that their regular training methods leave them largely unprepared for. Fast, left-arm, proficient from over and round the wicket to both right- and left-hand batsmen, banging down hard on the middle of the pitch while creating awkward angles and setting unusual fields, the closest Test cricket has got to Bodyline in the era of field restrictions behind square on the leg side.
More to follow…