Cricket: Fleming adds cream to his large test cake

CHITTAGONG - Stephen Fleming dined out on Bangladesh's thin attack to notch his second test double century yesterday.

But no sooner had he passed the landmark shortly after lunch on the second day, than Fleming miscued a ball from offspinner Rajin Saleh to be dismissed for 202.

Hamish Marshall watched from the other end as his skipper finally departed.

New Zealand declared at tea at 545 for six. Marshall made 69.

The unbeaten batsmen were Jacob Oram (38) and Brendon McCullum (17).

Fleming, whose innings lasted 318 deliveries and contained 21 fours and one six, became just the third New Zealander behind Glenn Turner and Mathew Sinclair to score two double test hundreds.

He notched a career-best 274 not out against Sri Lanka in Colombo in April 2003.

Hawks hovering above the ground, in a greenbelt section of Chittagong, have been a constant presence here, but Fleming provided them few scraps as he continued to punish the home side's attack.

Fleming, who on the opening day overtook Sir Richard Hadlee's record of 86 test appearances and Martin Crowe's national record of 5444 test runs, again assumed control when New Zealand resumed on 338 for three.

He began the day with a drive which rattled the boundary fence in the first over, as the Black Caps aimed to push on to 500-plus.

The tourists' advance was stunted when spinner Mohammed Rafique trapped Nathan Astle leg-before for 39 in the 102nd over.

Astle went to play a quicker ball that caught him on the back pad as Rafique claimed his third wicket to break a 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

That brought Marshall to the crease in his second test and the Northern Districts batsman survived loud shouts for leg-before on his first ball.

Rafique continued to trouble Marshall, beating the bat with some good deliveries, but Fleming continued to score with ease at the other end.

Spinner Enamul Haque had no luck with his opening 12 overs and was replaced by paceman Tapash Aisya, who barely troubled either batsman.

Fleming hit his first six in the 118th over when he walked across his stumps and lofted Rafique over mid-on to raise his team's 400 off 117.1 overs in 406 minutes.

Earlier, when Fleming broke Crowe's record, former Indian allrounder Ravi Shastri and now a commentator told his television viewers: "A fine player has gone past a great player."

It was a sentiment shared by Fleming. "Yeah, that's spot on," he said. "I want to become a great player, but it's only been in the last two years that I've been playing to my potential and my record probably reflects that.

"The bottom line is that over the past two years I'm fulfilling what I want to do."

He has set himself a few targets to reach in coming years.

"To go on and play a hundred tests or more ... to get 15 centuries [he has eight] ... and to average over 40."

Double hundreds

New Zealanders to score two test double centuries:

* Glenn Turner 259 v West Indies at Georgetown, 1971/1972, 223no v West Indies at Kingston, 1971/1972.

* Mathew Sinclair 214 v West Indies at Wellington, 1999/2000, 204no v Pakistan at Christchurch, 2000/2001.

* Stephen Fleming 274no v Sri Lanka at Colombo, 2002/2003, 202 v Bangladesh at Chittagong, 2004/2005 .

- NZPA