Cricket: Bangladesh reveal first-day spark

Shafiul Islam after bowling to Tim McIntosh, who was caught out by Imrul Kayes. Photo / Christine Cornege

Satisfaction was in short order all round on the opening day of New Zealand's solitary test against Bangladesh at Seddon Park yesterday.

But New Zealand will figure, after a day when the ball could have easily been more dominant, that they are starting the second day in reasonable shape to press on; Bangladesh should recognise that they need one more wicket and they're into the lower order - so honours roughly even.

However, if conditions today are similar, you'd rather be in the hosts' shoes, given Bangladesh's dodgy batting form on tour so far.

New Zealand got to 258 for five in testing conditions, and that tally would have been better but for some ordinary shot selection.

Against a better calibre of new-ball bowling - Shafiul Islam the honourable exception - it could have been a disaster. On a sticky, overcast day, the toss turned into a crap shoot.

This was not a situation where mulling over the options would require a decision by consensus. The choice to bowl first was a complete no-brainer.

So there was a welcome examination of New Zealand's top order in conditions more akin to Dhaka when play began an hour late because of early drizzle. The batsmen might not have welcomed it, but they needed to be stretched.

Collectively they failed the test, in different ways.

Swing bowlers dream of marking out their run-up on days like this and had New Zealand's fast-medium men been given first dibs you would have expected them to fill their boots against Bangladesh's thin batting resources (unless the bowlers had left their radar back in the changing room).

Instead we saw Tim McIntosh push defensively and edge to second slip early; and BJ Watling battle away for over an hour before going in similar fashion.

Peter Ingram began his test career like a man with important business to attend to. No nervous nibbling around off stump for him, and once he got moving he looked in good touch.

He drove firmly off the back foot and one straight six in left-arm spinner Shakib's opening over was the stroke of a confident man.

But Ingram blew it. He'd got to 42, seemed at home and had a half-century beckoning. Then he miscued an attempted pull and was caught at wide mid on.

"I felt like I played well until I made a bad decision," Ingram said last night. "The pitch was a nice easy pace, good to bat on so I'm pretty gutted I threw it away."

At that point, 73 for three, New Zealand were peering down a large hole against a mixed job of bowling in which the lively Shafiul was by a distance the pick.

Several times he beat the bat and had he held a difficult low return catch when Martin Guptill was on four New Zealand would have been in a pickle.

Shafiul and his chums would have benefited from some smarter field placing too.

Having one slip and a boundary man at point when New Zealand were teetering required a rubbing of the eyes for confirmation. This was exactly the time Bangladesh should have been leaping for the opponents' throat.

New Zealand's senior batsman Ross Taylor banged three fours in the second over after lunch, then - in a reversal of the standard story - started to lose his way.

There was a big score ahead of him. Instead he drove at a wide ball to disappointingly depart at 40.

At 158 for five, New Zealand looked to have made a pig's ear of it.

However Guptill and Brendon McCullum pulled the innings around with an unbroken stand of 100.

Guptill finished the day 20 runs away from a maiden test hundred in his ninth international and looked in control. McCullum did his job with a mix of careful defence and decisive shotmaking.