NZ vs BD, 1st Test, Day 3, Tea: Mominul-Liton swing things Bangladesh's way as they eye 1st innings lead

Bangladesh made a good fist of things post lunch after a tough morning session as they are now trailing by 21 runs. The visitors upped the scoring rate big time in the afternoon session as Liton Das and Mominul Haque came out with good intent.

New Zealand bowlers were far more disciplined on day three than they were on day two. Neil Wagner, who was by far the best bowler on day two, tested the batters with his typical short-pitch bowling especially Mahmudul Hasan Joy on the third morning. Joy became slightly impatient unlike the previous day. He played a couple of uppish drives off the front foot on the off-side but ended up hitting the ball straight to deep gully in an attempt to guide the ball past the vacant point region. This was Wagner's third scalp. Joy played well for his dogged 78.

On the other hand, Kyle Jamieson bowled with a lot of heart in the first hour, still swinging the old ball. He, in particular, got Mominul struggling to find a way to score. But the southpaw remained patient, left balls and played with soft hands. As soon as Rachin Ravindra replaced Jamieson into the attack, Mominul got his first run of the morning in the 50th minute and 29th delivery he faced. Earlier, he was dropped by Jamieson off his own bowling. 

But the Bangladesh skipper nicked one in the 80th over, the last one before lunch, but the left-arm seamer overstepped, much to Mominul's relief. 

Trent Boult and Tim Southee took the new ball and Mushfiqur and Mominul negotiated them well for eight overs before the former was dismissed. Boult set Mushfiqur up with a host of deliveries from over the wicket and cleaned him up in just the second delivery from round the stumps as the right hander missed a straight one. Mushfiqur made 12 off 53. Bangladesh were then 203 for four. 

Liton, at six, looked assured from the beginning. He showed good intent against Southee by hitting him for two boundaries towards the back end of the first session - a drive through the covers and a pull in front of square. 

Bangladesh went into lunch at 220 for four with Mominul unbeaten on 17 off 98 and Liton on 12 off 17. 

The duo came out with a more positive mindset in the post-lunch session. Mominul got going with three boundaries - two off Wagner and one off Jamieson. But Liton looked the most comfortable of Bangladeshi batters as he scored runs freely both off the front and back foot. He looked particularly strong at the square of the wicket on both sides. 

The pair hit as many as ten boundaries in the first hour of the second session itself and kept the Black Caps bowlers at bay. 

Mominul reached his hardfought  fifty off 147 balls with a nudge through the covers for a boundary. 

Liton slowed down a bit in his 40s as he survived a hostile spell of Wagner. The wicketkeeper-batter brought up his fifty off 93 balls. 

The tourists ended the second session at 307 for four.