Sinclair puts New Zealand in the lead

New Zealand 207 for 5 (Sinclair 76, McCullum 48*) lead Bangladesh 177 (Ashraful 67, Franklin 5-28) by 30 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The second day of the Test at the Bangabandhu Stadium was a scrappy, sweaty affair, but you wouldn't have known it in the morning, when James Franklin became the second New Zealander to take a hat-trick, and Bangladesh fell away for 177.

The pitch became slower and lower as the overs ticked by, and New Zealand's top order was done in by the slow bowlers. Mathew Sinclair played patiently for 76 while his chums fell cheaply, and when he got out, the possibility of Bangladesh taking the lead was very real. But Brendon McCullum hustled the bowlers on his way to 48 and took his team to 207 for 5, a lead of 30.

Franklin swung the ball around off stump and Bangladesh's tail just weren't up to it. Manjural Islam nicked a delivery from Franklin that swung slightly before a run had been scored in the morning (165 for 7). Then Mohammad Rafique went the same way, but edged the ball to Scott Styris at second slip. Tapash Baisya offered no shot to a ball that pitched in line with the stumps and came back to crash into the wickets (165 for 9), to make Franklin only the second New Zealander - after Peter Petherick, who achieved the feat against Pakistan at Lahore in 1976-77 - to take a hat-trick in Tests. The last four wickets added 12 runs to the overnight score.

Sinclair and Mark Richardson began in a hurry, demolishing the frequent half-volleys on offer from Baisya and Tareq Aziz. Then Rafique struck. And his bowling, in tandem with Manjural, made for a fascinating duel with the batsmen. Some balls stayed low, some bounced high, and many did nothing at all. Richardson made 15 before he tried to cut Rafique and found the ball staying low. It took the edge on the way to the wicketkeeper (34 for 1). Stephen Fleming fell the same way, with another ball not bouncing enough. Nathan Astle misjudged the bounce of one which he inadvertently cut straight to first slip, where Manjural grabbed the ball (122 for 4). Styris's dismissal was freakish - he struck one to leg, and it whacked Rajin Saleh at short leg, who recovered to catch the ball after it looped up.

Sinclair put the bad balls away, but was cautious otherwise. Rafique was played with caution, and Manjural wasn't giving away runs either. But when Sinclair did try to break free, sweeping a full ball, he missed, the umpire's finger went up (139 for 5).

Jacob Oram's circumspection suggested he was handling explosives, but McCullum's demeanour was more aggressive. He ran twos comfortably, and batted easily against the spinners, who came close getting a nick several times in the last session. He employed the cut when he could, and struck the fast bowlers for boundaries square on the off side.

New Zealand took the lead on a day that was close, and though they are in front only by 30, there's more batting to come. They could bat Bangladesh out of the game tomorrow, but then they could face a fight back, as they have seen twice already in this match.