Southee finished with figures of 5-94 off 28.3 overs

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee carved through Bangladesh’s batting line-up with a five-wicket haul to give his side the upper hand on the first day of the second Test in Christchurch.

Opting to bowl first, Southee struck early for the Black Caps as he had Bangladesh opener and stand-in captain Tamim Iqbal caught behind for just five runs.

Mahmudullah could only make 19 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Trent Boult, but Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan made up for the two quick blows with a 127-run partnership.

Both Sarkar and Al Hasan brought up their half-centuries as Bangladesh began to put New Zealand on the back foot.

Boult delivered the breakthrough New Zealand desperately needed as he removed Sarkar for 86, which came off 104 balls and included 11 boundaries.

Sarkar made his highest score in Test cricket

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Following Sarkar’s dismissal, Bangladesh lost Sabbir Rahman and Al Hasan in quick succession. Al Hasan ended up making 59 off 78 deliveries, which included nine boundaries.

Al Hasan scored his 20th Test fifty

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Debutants Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Nurul Hasan steered the innings back on the right track with a 53-run partnership before Shanto was sent packing by Southee for 18.

Once again, Bangladesh to lose wickets in a hurry, including that of Nurul, who scored an encouraging 47.

This time though, the tourists were unable to recover and ended up being bowled out for 289 when Southee trapped Kamrul Islam Rabbi lbw for two runs.

As soon as the final wicket fell, stumps was called for the day.

Southee was the pick of the bowlers with five wickets, while Boult snapped up four and Neil Wagner claimed one.

New Zealand will get their innings underway on Saturday at 11:00 local time or 22:00 GMT (the previous day).