Half-centuries from Peter Fulton and Kane Williamson thwarted Bangladesh's bowlers throughout the second session and helped New Zealand set their sights on a strong first-innings total in the first Test. The two batsmen put together 126 runs - New Zealand's best second-wicket stand in Bangladesh - before, just at the stroke of tea, Fulton gave his wicket away to the part-time spin of Nasir Hossain.
Fulton, who had stayed patient through the first session, continued in the same vein in the second and brought up his third Test fifty off 156 deliveries. With none of his bowlers making any impact, Mushfiqur Rahim asked Nasir to bowl the penultimate over of the session and Fulton punched the last ball of the over - a long hop that could have been dispatched anywhere - straight into the hands of Mominul Haque at cover.
New Zealand, however, remained in control of the situation. Kane Williamson, who joined Fulton after a half-century stand between the openers, showed his skills against the slower bowlers, hitting them for seven boundaries with deft cuts and flowing drives, and remained unbeaten on 71.
The Bangladesh bowlers, though, were guilty of bowling a number of loose deliveries through the session that helped New Zealand increase the scoring. The slowness of the newly laid pitch was not ideal for strokeplay, but the bowlers erred in length a number of times. In the end, Bangladesh were lucky to have dismissed two batsmen as both of them gave their wickets away.
