CHITTAGONG - New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming was among the records on the opening day of the second test against Bangladesh yesterday.
Fleming was 87 not out at tea with his side 234 for two after he won the toss and chose to bat at Ma Aziz Stadium.
He was within sight of his eighth test century, but a bigger milestone had already been reached as he started his 87th test.
That took him past the previous New Zealand record of 86 which he shared with Sir Richard Hadlee.
And when he reached 81 he broke Martin Crowe's record of 5444 for the most test runs for New Zealand.
Fleming was fully aware of his feat, raising both arms in the air to salute the New Zealand dressing room, where the players rose as one to applaud their leader.
He was New Zealand's youngest captain when appointed at the age of 23 in 1997.
New Zealand made one change from the opening match in Dhaka, with fast bowler Ian Butler dropping to 12th man and batsman Hamish Marshall being promoted to play his second test.
Allrounder Scott Styris was included after passing a fitness test on his foot.
New Zealand started well, with openers Mark Richardson and Mathew Sinclair blunting the pace attack of Mushfiqur Rahman and Tapash Baisya.
New Zealand were 40 without loss after 10 overs, with Sinclair taking just 30 balls to reach 22.
But it was not long until left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique, who took six wickets in the first test, was introduced. Rafique, with a test average of 30.31, immediately caused tremors for the tourists when a mistimed shot from Richardson flew past first slip for four.
Richardson showed his disgust with the shot by performing a well-known leg movement in Asia - a kung fu-style jump kick.
However, the 6000-strong crowd at the picturesque, treelined ground did not have to wait much longer for success on a pitch which New Zealand coach John Bracewell thought would turn even more drastically than that on offer in Dhaka.
In the 12th over, Rafique bowled Sinclair for 23 with a beautiful delivery.
Pitching on middle stump, the ball spun past Sinclair's bat to topple the offstump bail, leaving New Zealand 49 for one and Sinclair momentarily not quite sure what had happened.
Left-hander Richardson (28) was also undone by spin when he top-edged a sweep to Mushfiqur Rahman at square-leg off Enamul Haque with the score 61.
The tourists reached 103 at lunch, then Fleming and Styris took to the bowling in the second session, adding 131 in the two hours.
* Allrounder James Franklin has been named to fill the vacant 14th position in the one-day squad for the three-match series against Bangladesh starting next week.
Franklin last week became just the second New Zealander, after spinner Peter Petherick, to record a hat-trick in tests.
- NZPA
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