Day Four
An incredible day of cricket saw the BLACKCAPS bat themselves into a first innings lead before charging to an unlikely day four victory by nine wickets.
Tim Southee was named man of the match for his eight wicket bag, while Trent Boult's seven for and Henry Nicholls's 98 with the bat also proved pivotal.
The victory is the BLACKCAPS fourth consecutive Test victory and takes their winning streak at home to ten games - the most ever by a New Zealand cricket team.
Partnerships
With the BLACKCAPS resuming day four trailing Bangladesh by 29 runs at 260-7, the first hour of play was always going to be a pivotal period in the match and it went the way of the hosts. Henry Nicholls (56* overnight) continued on his merry way from day two and found valuable allies in Tim Southee (17) and Neil Wagner (26), with partnerships of 30 and 57 helping get the BLACKCAPS past Bangladesh's 289 run total and into a handsome first innings lead of 65.
98 from Nicholls
In front of his friends and family on his home ground, Nicholls did everything asked of him to put the BLACKCAPS on top, but unfortunately he came up two runs short of his own milestone in a maiden Test century. The left handed number five struck 12 boundaries in a classy knock which was unfortunately ended by a drag on to spinner Mehedi Hasan on 98. A deflating moment for everyone at Hagley Oval but a valuable contribution from a young man starting out his Test career.
Pre lunch strike
An awkward 10 overs were to be faced by Bangladesh before lunch and they would cost them the wicket of captain Tamim Iqbal. The left hander capping off a disappointing series by hooking a Tim Southee bouncer into the hands of a diving Mitchell Santner on the deep square leg boundary. Classy catch from a proper athlete.
Pacemen plunder
A determined BLACKCAPS bowling unit applied the pressure to Bangladesh after lunch. The four pace bowlers all picked up a wicket in the second session as the visitors batsmen came unstuck. Some good bowling and some questionable shot making saw the the Tigers limp to tea at 100-5, leading by just 35 runs.
Wickets tumbling
It was more of the same after the tea break as the BLACKCAP bowlers got their tails up. Neil Wagner struck second ball into the session to send keeper Nurul Hasan on his way for a duck, the second straight duck at the hands of Wagner in the innings. Trent Boult then speared a nasty ball in at Mehedi Hasan who poked it to Latham in close to resign Bangladesh to their fate at 115-8, having lost their last seven wickets for just 57 runs.
Final stand
Taskin Ahmed (33) and Kamrul Islam (25) provided some late fireworks for the visitors, but once they fell early in the final session it was game on for a result on day four. Bangladesh would be bowled out for a paltry 173, leaving the BLACKCAPS 109 runs to win in less than 20 overs.
Openers stand tall
With 19 overs left in the day and 109 the target, the BLACKCAPS would have to make some decent early progress towards the target in order to convince the umpires to extend play past 7pm to get a result. Raval (33) and Latham (41*) did that job at the top, laying a good base in decent time as they put on 56 for the first wicket.
Big House finishes the job
With 7pm looming - the BLACKCAPS sent out powerful all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme to ice the cake. The move was a clear sign to the opposition, fans and most importantly umpires that the hosts wanted the win this with a day to spare. The man they call 'Big House' delivered in spades, smashing four big sixes his 33 off 15 to get the BLACKCAPS home in plenty of time by nine wickets.
Day Three
Pesky rain 
Rain overnight and in the morning meant the players were in no rush to get down to the ground for day three. Unfortunately that rain didn't let up all day, with the players not required to boot up all day. Just before 4pm, the umpires called play off for the day.
Here we come day four
Hoping for a dryer Hagley on day four. The BLACKCAPS will resume batting at 10.30am, all going well, still 29 runs behind Bangladesh's first-innings total. A frustrating day three, but still plenty of time left in this Test.
Day two
Bangladesh 289 (Soumya Sarkar 86, Shakib AL Hasan 59, Tim Southee 5-94, Trent Boult 4-87)
BLACKCAPS 260-7 (Ross Taylor 77, Tom Latham 68, Henry Nicholls 56*, Shakib Al Hasan 3-32)
Fresh start
The final act of day one saw Tim Southee take the final Bangladesh wicket, meaning Tom Latham and Jeet Raval would get the chance to respond to the visitor's first-up effort of 289 from ball one of day two.
Starting with spin
Bangladesh threw a cat amongst the pigeons early in the BLACKCAPS innings, once again opening with spin. It nearly paid off to, with Jeet Raval edging one to second slip - luckily for him the fielder grassed it.
Sailors soaking it up
Shout out to this merry crew of punters at Hagley today. Not the warmest of days in the Garden City, but a pretty good turn out nonetheless. We appreciate a uniform.
Bangladesh strike twice
After Raval and Tom Latham got the BLACKCAPS off to a solid start at 40-0, Bangladesh took the wind out of the home side's sails with two quick wickets. Taskin got Raval to chop on first-up, before finding the long lost edge of Kane Williamson two balls later. Things were looking a little less certain for the BLACKCAPS.
Partnership punch
At 47-2 and still trailing by 242 runs, the BLACKCAPS were in need of a substantial a partnership. They found one in Latham (68) and Ross Taylor (77). The pair both made half-centuries and put on 106 for the third wicket, taking the BLACKCAPS to beyond 150.
Evening it up
At 250-4, the BLACKCAPS looked on track for a big first-innings lead, but three quick wickets at the end of the day saw a significant momentum shift in Bangladesh's favour. Shakib Al Hasan went bang, bang, bang to leave the Test very much in the balance.
Nicholls the key
Playing in his hometown, Henry Nicholls played a crucial knock on day two, making his second half-century in as many matches. The 25-year-old remained steady while wickets fell around him at the end of the day and will be the key to whether the BLACKCAPS can muster some sort of first-innings lead on day three.
Day One
Bangladesh 289 (Soumya Sarkar 86, Shakib AL Hasan 59, Tim Southee 5-94, Trent Boult 4-87)
BLACKCAPS 0-0
Scorecard
Turn it up Christchurch
The Garden City turned on a pearler for the first morning of the second ANZ Test. Blue skies above and a green pitch below made for the perfect Test match morning setting at the picturesque Hagley Oval.
The teams
Battered and bruised from Wellington, Bangladesh were forced into three injury related changes, losing the class and experience of captain Mushfiqur Rahim and top order batsmen Mominul Haque and Imrul Kayes. They would be replaced by Soumya Sarkar (opener) and Test debutants Nazmul Hossain Shanto (five) and Nurul Hasan (keeper). They also dropped pace bowler Subashis who made way for Rubel Hossain. The BLACKCAPS went with the “don’t change a winning formula” approach naming an unchanged XI from the wonderful late win in Wellington.
Early damage
Pace, bounce and seam movement were always going to make for an exciting first session and so it proved. The BLACKCAPS struck two early blows with Tim Southee and Trent Boult reducing the visitors to 38-2 in the 11th over.
The counterpunch
It’s sometimes said that the best form of defence is attack; and make-shift opener Soumya Sarkar and first Test double centurion Shakib Al Hasan took the theory and ran with it. They pounced on anything loose from the BLACKCAP bowlers and powered the visitors to lunch at 128-2 from just 27 overs. The pair struck 20 boundaries between them in a powerful stand that had the Tigers roaring on what was meant to be the bowlers morning.
Boult breakthroughs
Once the ball started to swing, Boult looked back to his very best. He constantly threatened the right handers with the in-swinger and made the big breakthrough of Soumya Sarkar for 86 shortly after lunch. He would also send the dangerous Sabbir packing in a lethal spell where the BLACKCAPS claimed 3-14 in fours overs.
Five for Southee
Tim Southee brought the day to a close when he claimed his fifth wicket to end with figures of 5-94. His sixth career five-wicket-bag, Southee now needs just two further wickets to reach 200 Test wickets.
