Mominul leads Bangladesh fightback against N. Zealand
Dhaka (AFP) - Mominul Haque scored an unbeaten century and put on a record partnership with Tamim Iqbal as Bangladesh fought their way back into the second Test against New Zealand in Dhaka Thursday.
The hosts reached 269-3 in their second innings at stumps on the fourth day, wiping out New Zealand?s first innings advantage of 155 for an overall lead of 114 runs.
Mominul led Bangladesh?s batting charge with 126 not out, making him only the second Bangladeshi to score back-to-back Test centuries after Tamim.
Mominul, who scored 181 in the first innings of the drawn first Test in Chittagong, batted solidly throughout, showing no sign of nerves until he got stuck on 99 for 11 balls.
He reached his century with a half-hearted boundary over long on off Neil Wagner.
Former captain Shakib Al Hasan kept Mominul company towards the end of the day and was unbeaten on 32 at stumps.
Tamim, who achieved the same feat at Lord's and Old Trafford against England in 2010, played a patient knock of 70 off 218 balls before Ross Taylor spectacularly caught him one-handed at slip off Kane Williamson.
"We were on the back foot when we started the day so our target was to lose few wickets and bat as long as possible," Tamim told reporters.
"We had planned not to go for high-risk shots and bat normally."
Tamim said there was still an outside chance of a Bangladesh victory.
"It depends on how long this pair can bat tomorrow. If our batsmen can bat for an hour after lunch then anything is possible. It has happened before in Test cricket," he said.
Mominul and Tamim added 157 runs, a record for Bangladesh for the third wicket, after Wagner struck twice in the first session to leave the home side struggling on 55-2.
The South African-born left-arm paceman, who claimed 5-64 in the first innings, had opener Anamul Haque caught by Peter Fulton at slip for 22, before adding Marshall Ayub to his tally.
Anamul's 22, his highest score in the series, included four boundaries, while Ayub fell for just nine as Taylor took a catch at slip.
Earlier New Zealand had resumed on 419-8 but added just 18 for the last two wickets to be all out for 437.
Ish Sodhi was run out by Mominul for 58, before Abdur Razzak trapped Trent Boult in front to wrap up the innings seven overs into the morning session.
"There is still obviously a lot of time to go in this game," said New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton.
"We would have liked at least two more wickets tonight. We need to come out tomorrow morning and if we get a couple of wickets in the first hours, it will be an exciting day."
