Najmul Hossain Shanto was able to leave his mark on yesterday’s events in his first spell as on-field captain in a Test match, particularly with how he rotated the bowlers and adjusted the pitch to meet his team’s ploys against New Zealand batsmen.
Despite letting numerous opportunities go, Bangladesh would be pleased with the outcome at the end of the second day, having picked up eight wickets to leave the visitors trailing by 44 runs.
Shanto seems to make decisions right away. He asked Mehedi Miraz to partner Shoriful Islam with the new ball because he only had one pacer.
Miraz opened his innings against two left-handed openers with a slip and a short-leg, indicating that Bangladesh expected things to happen with the new ball. Miraz went on to bowl nine consecutive overs.
Meanwhile, Shoriful gradually settled in a queue in the corridor of uncertainty after an expensive first over and bothered Devon Conway to no end with an attacking pitch in place.
Taijul Islam, Shanto’s first-change choice, would reap the benefits of early pressure in his first over, taking Tom Latham’s wicket with a top-edge to short-fine leg.
The offensive pitch settings, which had been uncommon for Bangladesh in Tests for a long time, were a feature of the day. As the ball took the inside edge and jumped up, Shahadat Hossain Dipu took a wonderful catch leaping to his right at short-leg to remove Conway from Miraz.
Even when set hitters were at the plate, the attacking field-setting remained consistent. Shoriful was finally rewarded in his second spell, when he returned Henry Nicholls to break a solid 54-run stand.
When Nayeem Hasan faced right-handers, he used a lot of leg-side fielding. Shanto kept off-side gaps open to inspire drives and open the gap between bat and pad.
Even Kane Williamson, who is typically composed, made an error in the 49th over. With Tea approaching, the right-hander hit a sweep-pull to Nayeem Hasan, who was standing at mid-wicket. Taijul, on the other hand, would let it slide.
Shanto created another field adjustment in the 59th over, instructing Shoriful to come forward a little more from backward square-leg – an instruction he did not quite implement. As a result, in the 71st over, Shoriful was inches away from taking a simple catch, and Williamson survived Nayeem once more.
Even Mominul Haque rolled his arm to remove Glenn Phillips and end Williamson’s 78-run stand. Taijul later made amends by dismissing Williamson, but not before the batting legend scored his 29th Test century.
At the end of the day, outgoing spin-coach Rangana Herath praised Shanto’s captaincy.
“He did a good job of mixing up those bowlers.” “I believe he created those angles [making batters play to the field and provide opportunities],” Herath said.
Shanto’s assured demeanour in the pre-match news conference carried over to his first day as on-field captain, laying the groundwork for the team’s first assignment of the third ICC World Test Championship cycle.