As Jeet Raval and Tom Latham went about compiling New Zealand's biggest opening partnership in 47 years, you could be forgiven for wanting Bangladesh to be put out of
their misery.
Fortunately for the Black Caps, fans of records, and, well, masochists, there's still three days to go in the first test at Seddon Park, and on the basis of today's utter dominance, a lot more to celebrate in store for New Zealand.
Nobody would have more reason for celebration than Jeet Raval, who reached his first century in his 17th test with an excellent innings as the Black Caps flew to 451-4 at stumps, a lead of 217 runs.
While his spot at the top of the order had never been under real threat due to a series of solid scores, Raval was eager to break his three-figure duck, and he did so in style, barely offering a chance, and bringing up his century with stellar back-to-back boundaries.
Raval felt his century was a pleasant reward for his hard work behind the scenes.
"I've been working on my discipline and the focus that I wanted to build on, especially the starts but going on to be able to get a big one for the team. That's what I've been working on the last few weeks, and nice to see it come good.
"Hopefully this is the start of something."
It was perhaps a less memorable innings for Tom Latham, which is only a ridiculous indication of his incredible form. For the third time in three months, Latham reached 150, as part of a partnership that flew past Bangladesh's first innings of 234 without being broken.
Just as historians started to deviate to analysing world records, Raval tried to slog Mahmudullah, but got a top edge. The ball flew high to Khaled Ahmed, who nearly badly misjudged it, but eventually took the catch, reaching full-stretch above his head.
