Bangladesh’s Iqbal misses century before rain stops play

(Reuters) – Opener Tamim Iqbal survived two dropped catches to hit an entertaining 95 as Bangladesh reached 228 for five wickets before rain stopped play after tea on the opening day of the second and final test against New Zealand yesterday.

Left-arm paceman Neil Wagner, who replaced spinner Bruce Martin for the second test, picked up two wickets for New Zealand while Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi and Corey Anderson each grabbed one. Dropped on five and 10 off paceman Doug Bracewell behind the wickets, the flamboyant Tamim punished the visitors with 17 boundaries during his 153-ball knock.

The 24-year-old left-hander, who was first dropped by wicketkeeper BJ Watling and then by captain Brendon McCullum, maintained a brisk scoring rate during a 67-run stand with Marshall Ayub (41) for the second wicket and a third-wicket partnership of 76 with Mominul Haque (47).

Kane Williamson leapt in the air to snare a catch to dismiss Tamim, who has not scored a test hundred since June 2010, as the batsman tried to guide Wagner through the gully region.

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (20) fell leg before wicket to young leg-spinner Sodhi at the stroke of tea.

A heavy downpour during the break ensured that no further play was possible for the rest of the day.

The first match of the two-test series ended in a draw.