Kane Williamson celebrates after scoring his second double century in Test cricket
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten 200 as the Black Caps continued to punish Bangladesh and are just six wickets away from a mammoth win in Hamilton.
Starting off the day on 451/4, Williamson and Neil Wagner, who was sent in as the nightwatchman at the end of the second day, added 58 runs to their unbeaten two-run partnership before Wagner was caught behind off the bowling of debutant Ebadat Hossain for a career-best 47.
Williamson and BJ Watling added 96 runs to the score before Watling was caught behind off the bowling of Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 31.
Williamson and Colin de Grandhomme kept the runs flowing with an unbeaten 110-run partnership, during which Williamson brought up his double hundred and De Grandhomme his fifty, before New Zealand declared on 715/6, which is their highest Test score in history and gave them a 481-run lead.
Williamson ended up making 200, which came off 257 balls and included 19 boundaries, while De Grandhomme was unbeaten on 76, which came off 53 deliveries and included four boundaries and five sixes.
Mehidy and Soumya Sarkar picked up two wickets apiece, while Ebadat and captain Mahmudullah chipped in with one wicket each.
Trailing by 481 runs, Bangladesh made a strong start to their second innings as Tamim Iqbal and Shadman Isman amassed an 88-run partnership before Shadman was caught by Trent Boult at long leg off the bowling of Neil Wagner for 37.
Mominul Haque failed to have an impact with the bat as he was caught by Ross Taylor at slip off the bowling of Boult for eight runs.
Boult struck again in his next over as he removed Mohammad Mithun for a duck.
Tamim went on to score 74, which came off 86 balls and included 12 boundaries and a six, before he was caught behind off the bowling of Tim Southee.
Sarkar and Mahmudullah ensured Bangladesh didn’t lose anymore wickets as they forged an unbeaten 48-run stand before stumps was called.
Sarkar finished on 39, which came off 51 balls and included six boundaries and a six, while Mahmudullah remained undefeated on 15, which came off 40 deliveries and included three boundaries.
Boult was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Wagner and Southee claimed one wicket each.
Bangladesh ended day three on 174/4 and will continue batting on Sunday at 11:00 local time or 22:00 GMT (the previous day).