Bangladesh close in on victory against New Zealand after Taijul heroic

Southpaw Taijul Islam spun up another fine show with the ball to grab four wickets and leave New Zealand tottering on 113 for 7 in their chase on the fourth day of Sylhet Test.

Daryl Mitchell (44) and Ish Sodhi (7) will look to lead New Zealand out of the woods on the final day of the Test match at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

Resuming on an overnight 212 for 3 on Friday, Bangladesh were bowled out for 338 in the second session with spinner Ajaz Patel returning 4 for 148, reports bdnews24.com.

Chasing 332 to win, the Black Caps lost opener Tom Latham for a duck to Shoriful Islam (1-13) in the first over of the innings before Taijul (4-40) trapped Kane Williamson in front. It was all downhill from there for the visitors, who went into tea on 37 for 3.

Skipper Najumul Hossain Shanto stuck with his spinners and was rewarded for the choice. Mehidy Hasan Miraz (1-31) removed Henry Nicholls (2) and Taijul struck twice to snare the scalps of Devon Conway (22) and Tom Blundell (6) to leave the Kiwis reeling on 60 for 5.

As the spinners extracted turn and bounce from the track, Nayeem Hasan (1-24) took out Glenn Phillips (12) before Taijul bagged his fourth by trapping Kyle Jamieson (9) leg-before.

With New Zealand struggling on 102 for 7, Bangladesh were firmly in the driver’s seat in their first match of the 2023/25 World Test Championship.

Earlier, Bangladesh lost the wicket of centurion skipper Shanto (105) to Tim Southee (1-33) early in the day before Mushfiqur Rahim (67) reached his half-century.

Bangladesh lost four wickets for 89 runs in the first session as Shahadat Hossain (18), Mushfiqur and Nurul Hasan (10) departed without any significant partnership.

It was Miraz (50) who put up a stubborn resistance with an unbeaten fifty, pushing the Bangladesh total past 330.