Centuries from Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah Riyad went in vain as Bangladesh suffered a big defeat by an innings and 52 runs in the first Test of three-match series against New Zealand at Hamilton on Sunday.
With the win in Hamilton, the hosts took lead in the series 1-0. The second Test will take place in Wellington from March 8.
New Zealand had secured a colossal lead of 481 in the first innings after Kane Williamson has completed his 20th Test century which finally ended with a double-ton.
Bangladesh bowled out for 429 in their second innings and suffered by an innings and 52 runs.
The Tigers started their second innings on a positive note as Tamim Iqbal and Shadman Islam added 88 runs in the opening stand. But, Mominul Haque and Mohammad Mithun failed to capitalize it. Mominul fell for eight while Mithun disappointed to add anything on the board.
However, Soumya and Mahmudullah added 235 runs in the fifth wicket stand which is Bangladesh’s second highest Test partnership against New Zealand.
Along the way, Soumya completed his first Test ton while representing Bangladesh in the 13th Test. The southpaw got dismissed on 49 off a Trent Boult delivery. He went to flick for a single to complete 150-runs mark. But failed to execute properly and lost his stumps.
Soumya struck 21 fours and five sixes along the way. Bangladesh have lost the last five wickets in 68 runs.
After the dismissal of Soumya, Mahmudullah completed his fourth Test ton which was third in three months. The Bangladesh captain tried his best to reduce the margin of loss with the help of tailenders.
Before that, Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz dissatisfied with the bat. Both of them fell scoring one run each.
Abu Jayed Rahi and Khaled Ahmed played 19 and 13 balls respectively, which helped Mahmudullah to pass his previous best of 136 in Tests. He fell hitting 146. The right-handed batsman went to clear Tim Southee through the cover but skied straight to the fielder, and this his captain’s knock came to the end.
Boult recorded five-wicket haul for the hosts while Southe took three and Neil Wagner bagged the other two wickets.
Earlier, Bangladesh were wrapped in for 234 in the first innings in spite of a rapid ton from Tamim. Wagner scalped five wickets with his tendency to delivering short balls. Along with him, Southee contributed taking three wickets.
In reply, New Zealand accumulated 715 for six wickets, which is now the highest total of the New Zealanders in Test cricket surpassing their 690/10 against Pakistan in 2014 at Sharjah.
Jeet Raval and Tom Latham posted 254 runs in the first wicket stand which accelerated them to the record total. Coming to bat at number three, Kane Williamson struck unbeaten 200 and with this, New Zealand recorded their second instance of hitting the centuries by all top three batsmen.
Relying on the second double-ton of the career, Williamson won the award of man of the match as well.
Soumya was the most successful bowler of the Tigers in the match taking two wickets conceding 68. Mehidy also bagged two wickets giving away 246 runs, which is now the record of conceding most runs in a Test innings for the Tigers.
Before coming into the Test series, Bangladesh had lost the three-match ODI series 3-0 as well. Now, they have to take the challenge of bouncing back in the next game in Wellington commencing from March 8. The final match of the series will be held on Christchurch from March 16.
