Hamilton could be a Test too far for Bangladesh

The first cricket match against New Zealand at Hamilton starting next Tuesday must be a Test too far for the touring Bangladesh side which today just managed to get their four-day game against Auckland into the fourth day on the Eden Park Outer Oval tomorrow morning.

Unless there is heavy and persistent rain the tourists are certain to lose the match. They are still 210 runs behind Auckland, with only one second innings wicket intact. It is many a day since Auckland beat anyone, even an international side, with such dominating comfort.

Today on the tick of lunch Auckland completed their first innings at 495, a lead of 375 over the Bangladesh first innings of 120 in the first two sessions on Wednesday.

There was some merit in the Bangladesh performance before lunch for they held Auckland to 91 runs in the session, took five wickets and denied the 21-year-old Nick Horsley his first century in his third first-class game by cutting off his 247-minute innings at 95.

But Bangladesh lost all that ground and more when they lost four wickets for 71 by tea, two immediately after the break. It took a four-hour vigil for 71 not out by the No 4 batsman Aminul Islam, and solid support from Khaled Mashud and the tail-enders Enamul Haque and Mohammad Sharif, to enable Bangladesh to survive eight overs of extra time to get to 165 for nine wickets and push the match, however marginally, into the fourth and last day.

The tourists worked hard when bowling at the Aucklanders in the morning, especially the left-armer Manjural Islam who ended with four wickets and Sharif with three - complemented by the tidy keeping from the captain Mashud who ended with four catches, three this morning.

Horsley rather lost the powerful rhythm which had so splendidly marked his 57 not out on Thursday, and the accurate bowling on a pitch losing all life and lustre gradually drained his confidence. Also, he seemed to be out-thought as the Bangladeshis went totally on the defensive when Horsley was tip-toeing through the 90's - and he rather got himself out trying to break the drought.

But the fact remained that on a nondescript pitch which produced the odd low bounce, especially when the ball was new - there were countless lbw appeals for balls skidding into the pads - the Bangladeshis never quite attained the consistency needed at international level.

Their bowling, Manjural and Sharif apart, was only workmanlike and the batting repeated the frailties it showed on Wednesday. There was again a bad start to the Bangladeshi second innings when Javed Omar went quickly. Again Al Sahariar looked a genuinely good stroke-maker, but again his concentration ran out. Habibul Bashar looked likely to leave at the earlier moment, the teenaged Mohammad Ashraful batted with boyish impermanence and Sanwar Hossain and Khaled Mahmud were temporary visitors to the crease.

So it was really too late by the time, at 73 for six, that Aminul and Mashud joined together in a dogged if unlovely show of defensive defiance. Mashud went stolidly along to seven in 70 minutes, starting his scoring from the 26th ball he faced.

Aminul was not exactly a spectacular batsman, either, but at the least he showed that he had some ability to produce the determination and concentration needed to merely survive at international level.

So, as in the first innings, the second half of the Bangladesh batting showed much more grit and defiance than the supposedly senior batsman in the top half.

Perhaps the Bangladeshis will learn from their Eden Park disasters and give a much healthier performance on a better pitch at WestpacTrust Park in the first Test at Hamilton next week. They will have to improve, perhaps by about 100 per cent, if they are to struggle as manfully as they did during the last two hours today.

Chris Drum, who seems fated to be the Test 12th man at Hamilton (and if so Auckland would be delighted to field him at Carisbrook on the same day) again bowled with fire and accuracy, with five wickets for 33 today to add to his four for 32 on Wednesday.

Andre Adams, Tama Canning and Kyle Mills all had their moments, but had Brooke Walker's leg-spin been more accurate this afternoon Auckland would have earned themselves a holiday tomorrow.