Tom Latham hits 252 and Trent Boult takes 300th wicket as New Zealand dominate

New Zealand did what they do best after making a big score at home: dismantle the opposition's batting line-up. Bangladesh were reeling on 27 for 5 shortly after tea, and ended the second day 126 all out, behind by a mammoth 395 runs. Trent Boult reached 300 Test wickets with his fourth of the innings, clean bowling Mehidy Hasan Miraz. He joins Sir Richard Hadlee, Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee as the fourth New Zealander to reach the landmark. He is also the fifth left-arm fast bowler to take 300 wickets.

The day had two other milestones for New Zealand when their captain Tom Latham made the highest score by a Kiwi captain opening the innings. He made 252 to cross Graham Dowling's 239 against India in 1968. Latham's innings guided New Zealand to 521 for 6, with stands of 148 and 215 for the first and second wickets. One of those was with Devon Conway who made his third century in only his fifth Test.

All those big runs set the ideal platform for Boult and Southee who swung the ball around on command. Boult got his ninth five-wicket haul, while Southee and Kyle Jamieson shared five between them.

In the hour leading into the tea break, Bangladesh's top-order went kaput. Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto both fell to Boult in similar fashion: giving Latham catches at second slip. Shadman could have left his but Shanto had no choice but to edge a peach of a delivery.

Southee accounted for debutant Mohammad Naim and captain Mominul Haque, both bowled. Naim, playing his first first-class match in two years, dragged a rising delivery outside off-stump on to his stumps, going for a five-ball duck. Mominul missed Southee's fuller delivery, hitting his leg-stump when he tried to flick the ball.

The nightmare continued two balls after tea when Boult took Litton Das' inside edge, to be caught behind for 8. However, Yasir Ali and Nurul Hasan provided a 60-run sixth wicket stand to halt the home side's charge for an hour or so.

Nurul fell lbw to Southee, having made 41 off 62 balls with four boundaries. He was enterprising, as was Yasir, but Mehidy Hasan couldn't quite emulate his useful 47 from the first Test. He became Boult's 300th Test wicket when he got bowled by a delivery slanting in from around the wicket. Taskin Ahmed gave Jamieson his first wicket when he skied him to midwicket, where Will Young took a good catch.

Yasir reached his fifty shortly afterwards, looking in a bit of a hurry with Bangladesh eight down. He fell to Jamieson trying to get some big hits under his belt, before Boult took the last wicket of Shoriful Islam.

New Zealand started the day by celebrating too. Conway, not out overnight on 99, struck a four off the first ball to reach three-figures and continue his grand form at the start of his Test career. He clattered Mehidy for a straight six, apart from 12 fours, mostly on the off-side including some great cover drives and plenty of runs down the ground and behind square on the off-side. But, on 109, he was finally run out when Mehidy struck with a direct hit swooping in from the covers.

Conway's exit brought Ross Taylor to the crease for the last time in whites for New Zealand. The Bangladesh team gave him a guard of honour before Taylor shook hands with captain Mominul. Taylor struck three fours - a cover drive and a trademark lassoed cut shot -- before miscuing one to Shoriful at square leg. As he walked off making 28 off 39 balls, several of the Bangladesh fielders went up to wish him well while the new batter Henry Nicholls held himself back so that Taylor could soak in all the applause.

Nicholls lasted four balls before Ebadot Hossain had him caught behind. Shoriful had Daryl Mitchell caught behind too at the stroke of lunch, giving Bangladesh a bit of reprieve.

Tom Blundell however hit back with 57 off 60 balls in the first hour after lunch. He struck eight fours, while Latham forced the pace with two sixes off Mominul. But an attempt to get a third in the over ended up as a skied catch to midwicket Yasir. That was perhaps the last time Bangladesh had something going in their favour in the match.