(BBC) Mahmudullah claimed his maiden Test century yesterday as Bangladesh made a spirited fightback in the one-off Test against New Zealand in Hamilton.
Resuming on 87-1, Mahmudullah’s 115 and an aggressive 87 from Shakib Al Hasan helped Bangladesh reach 408 in reply to New Zealand’s 553 first innings total.
Shakib was controversially dismissed despite the ball appearing not to carry to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.
New Zealand lost BJ Watling for one as they closed on 9-1.
Bangladesh had made a disappointing start to the third day as New Zealand ripped through the top order, taking five wickets to leave the tourists on 211-6 at lunch.
But Shakib and Mahmudullah took to spin bowlers Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel in the middle session as Bangladesh fought back.
The pair put on a 145-run stand before Shakib was dismissed off the bowling of Chris Martin after tea, and surprisingly he did not ask for the decision to be referred.
Despite the dismissal, Mahmudullah retained his composure to reach three figures for the first time in Test cricket with his 14th boundary of the innings.
He was eventually trapped leg before by Vettori and two overs later Bangladesh’s innings came to an end when Rubel Hossain was run out for a duck.
“It’s a really good day for me and for the team that we finally got a very good score on the board,” Mahmudullah said.
“This innings might be the best one so far. The situation wasn’t good because we had lost six wickets for 200 runs. But we coped with the crunch moments and capitalised on the bad balls.
“Shakib was aggressive as well and the ball was doing a bit so it was good fun.”
Watling was run out as New Zealand made a stuttering start to their second innings, with play again ended by bad light, but skipper Daniel Vettori believes a positive result is still possible.
“We want to bat well in the morning and bat two sessions and see where we are at that stage,” he said.
“I got a few to turn today. It’s a good deck, so there will probably be a few questions asked by the spinners but I still see the seamers playing a big role.
“Our seamers need to execute better to put Bangladesh under pressure because if you give them loose balls, like any team, they will put you away.”
