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Three-day match

Fleming masterclass

SPORTS REPORTER
Stephen Fleming served an early warning to Bangladesh as he notched up an unbeaten hundred with trademark fluency on the opening day of New Zealand's three-day tour opener at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) yesterday.
Twice drizzles interrupted the game against a strong Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) XI and only 66 overs of the desired 90 could be bowled. However that did not stop the Black Caps' skipper from cruising to a chanceless 129 off 176 balls before he retired to give his other batters a go. When the second bout of rain and fading lights brought a premature end to the day's play, the tourists were 285 for six having decided to bat first.
The start on a humid morning was however not what New Zealand would have been looking for as their openers Mark Richardson and Matthew Sinclair were back in the pavilion contributing just 18 runs between them. The dangerous Nathan Astle (15) and Scott Styris (5) were also gone cheaply leaving the Black Caps tottering on 84 for four. But Fleming who came in his customary number three position and the highly rated Hamish Marshall (51) first withered the
four-pronged pace attack of the BCB XI and then counterattacked with gusto in a 121-run fifth wicket partnership in quick time.
Fleming was particularly severe on left-arm spinner Nadif Chowdhury
and spanked the gangling youngster for two mighty straight sixes. Nadif, the Bangladesh Under-19 player, was the only slow bowler liberally used by captain Alok Kapali. But he bowled too short and strayed in line. Even when the bowlers got their rhythm right, they found Fleming to be a man possessed.
The left-hander's composure, adaptability and the ease with which he negotiated each and every delivery was a lesson in nearperfect batting and would make any coaching video proud. There was never any evidence of discomfort in his game which was not the case with most of his other batsmen as the 31-year-old illustrated his class with strokes all around the wicket, most never leaving the grass unless intended. Marshall was the ideal understudy as he was just intent on putting away the bad balls and savouring the skipper's innings from the other end.
The first rain delay happened an hour after lunch with New Zealand on 245 for five. When play resumed another hour later, Fleming did not come out and instead let Jacob Oram and Brendan McCullum have some practice.
"It was good day for me. In terms of the team, I guess it was a bit disappointing that more guys did not go on and did not spend some time in
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the middle," said Fleming at the end of the day.
"It was an easy-paced wicket and I felt pretty comfortable straightaway, which was a good sign," he added.
Fleming appreciated the effort of the home team's pace quartet of Shahadat Hossain Rajib, Talha Jubair, Alamgir Kabir and Anwar
Hossain Monir although he expressed surprise at the nature of the bowling attack.
"They tried very hard on a tough wicket to bowl on. We expected more spin to come at us so it was a surprise that the seamers did the majority of work, although it may not be the case in the Tests."
Paceman Alamgir Kabir, who bowled first change was rewarded for keeping a tidy line and length and returned figures of three for 59 off 17 overs. The most hostile customer of day was however tearaway Shahadat Hossain Rajib (two for 45) who bowled at an impressive speed. Coming in off a new curtailed runup, the country's fastest bowler struggled initially and was no-balled ten times but gradually settled down. He removed Jacob Oram with a jaffer that bounced disconcertingly off a length and took the gloves of the left-hander into the safe hands of wicketkeeper Dhiman Ghosh.
The performance of the two successful quicks was no doubt noticed by the four selectors Faruque Ahmed, Athar ali Khan, Golam Nowsher and coach Dav hatmore who were present at the BKSP since morning. Chief selector Faruque Ahmed said they would announce the side for the first Test on the third day of the match in BKSP.