Mominul ton leads Bangladesh fightback

Bangladesh 269 for 3 (Mominul 126*, Tamim 70) and 282 lead New Zealand 437 (Anderson 116, Watling 70*, Shakib 5-103) by 114 runs

Mominul Haque was part of a record third-wicket partnership for Bangladesh © AFP

Smart stats Mominul Haque became only the second Bangladesh batsman after Tamim Iqbal to hit centuries in two consecutive Tests. Tamim hit two hundreds in consecutive Tests against England in 2010. Mominul's 376 runs in this series are the highest by a Bangladesh batsman in a two-match Test series and the second highest ever by a Bangladesh batsman in any Test series. He is just four runs short of beating the 379 runs that Habibul Bashar scored in a three-Test series against Pakistan in 2003. The 157-run partnership between Mominul and Tamim was Bangladesh's highest for the third wicket in Tests. Tamim faced 218 deliveries for his 70 runs in this innings; this was his slowest innings of fifty-plus runs in terms of strike-rate. This was only the seventh instance of Bangladesh scoring 200 or more runs before the fall of their third wicket in a Test innings. The unbeaten 57-run partnership between Mominul and Shakib Al Hasan was Bangladesh's tenth fifty-plus partnership of the series. This equals Bangladesh's record for the most fifty-plus partnership in a series. Before this, Bangladesh had ten fifty-plus partnership in a home-series against England in 2010.

Mominul Haque and Tamim Iqbal exhibited patience and character to shore up Bangladesh, and by the end of the day the home side had secured a handy 114-run lead in Mirpur. Mominul remained unbeaten on 126 after raising his second successive Test century.

The pair chipped away at the 155-run deficit, and in the process laid to rest the unsettling trend of Bangladesh batsmen throwing their wickets away in the third innings of a Test match. Their record 157-run partnership for the third wicket ensured New Zealand were chasing the game at the end of the fourth day. Though the stand was broken in the final hour of play, Mominul will have the company of Shakib Al Hasan as Bangladesh head into the final day's play.

New Zealand made a promising start, but were unable to replicate their discipline from the first innings. Neil Wagner ran in hard and had both Anamul Haque and Marshall Ayub caught in the slips. On their first full day fielding under the Dhaka sun, he and his fellow seamers struggled to put pressure on the batsmen. The fielders were running low on energy as well, exemplified by Ish Sodhi's keeling over on the boundary in the 66th over, and letting a cut from Mominul go through him.

Tamim and Mominul hardly forced the issue, their interest fixed on orthodox Test match batting, extending the bowlers' wait for a mistake. There were occasions when Mominul showcased his dominance from the first Test when he scored 181. New Zealand had not learned from Chittagong and continued to be either too short or too full, especially outside the off-stump and Mominul took full advantage, and became only the second batsman from Bangladesh to score back-to-back Test hundreds.

More than his shots or the milestone, Mominul's calm in trying conditions - exhibited best when he wasn't flustered despite being stuck on 99 for ten deliveries - caught the eye. Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, packed the off side and asked his bowlers to bowl wide of the off stump, trying to prey on the batsman's nerves. Mominul did play away from his body twice, but would not be tempted when McCullum ran up and had a word with him. He waited, and when the ball was pitched up, drove straight, to collect the four that gave him a second Test century.

He found excellent support in Tamim, who played within himself and concentrated on preserving his wicket, as would be expected of a senior batsman. He struck just four boundaries in his 218-ball innings. This was his second slowest fifty and has never scored so many runs with so few boundaries. The last time it happened was in Colombo on a thick, grassy outfield in March. He was careful with balls outside off stump, reining in his usually extravagant cover drives, and collecting his runs by tucking the bowlers on the leg side when the bowlers strayed on his pads. He looked gutted when Ross Taylor leapt up and clung safely to a top-edged cut, lingering before making the walk back.

In the morning, New Zealand could only add 18 runs to their overnight total as they were bowled out for 437. Ish Sodhi was slow to react to BJ Watling's call for a single and Mominul Haque scored a direct hit to break the 93-run ninth wicket stand.

There were no heroics from the tenth-wicket stand, as Boult was trapped leg before by Abdur Razzak two overs after the ninth wicket fell.

Shakib was the better of the two left-arm spinners though, finishing with 5 for 103 while Razzak took two for 96 in 23 overs. Debutant seamer Al-Amin Hossain and Nasir Hossain took a wicket each but Sohag Gazi and Rubel Hossain remained wicketless.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. He tweets here

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