Twitter Reactions: Liton Das, Mominul Haque help Bangladesh take command at Bay Oval

Bangladesh are, slowly but surely, putting themselves in a commanding position in their opening Test against New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Having garnered a first innings lead of 73 runs with four wickets in hand, the Tigers have shown that they are no pushovers. The Black Caps, in the meantime, have plenty of catching up to do if they wish to secure a victory.

Mominul, Liton try their hearts out

At the close of play on Day two, the visitors made sure of reducing the deficit to 153 with Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mominul Haque being the overnight batters. Joy couldn’t add much to his overnight tally as Neil Wagner nipped him out for 78 in the third over of the day’s play. Soon after Trent Boult castled Mushfiqur Rahim and Bangladesh seemed to find themselves in a bit of pressure if not a whole lot.

From there on, skipper Mominul and Liton Das made sure that the Tigers surpassed the Kiwis’ first innings score without having to break much sweat. The duo put on 158 runs for the fifth wicket to put their team on the driver’s seat. Mominul was the more circumspect of the two as he scored 88 runs off 244 balls with the help of 12 fours. In the second session, he got to his half-century off 147 balls.

Bangladesh with their noses ahead

Liton, on the other hand, carried on with his decent run of form from the Pakistan Test series. The right-hander scored 86 runs off 177 balls with the help of 10 fours. When the duo was separated, Bangladesh had already garnered a lead of 33 runs. Boult got rid of Mominul to end the partnership. The Tigers’ captain took the DRS, but to no avail. Soon after, Das became Boult’s third victim.

After Mominul and Das got out, Yasir Ali Chowdhury and Mehidy Hasan found themselves together on naught with more than 11 overs left in the day’s play. However, they stayed unbeaten and helped Bangladesh extend their lead. Mehidy smashed four fours on his way to 20. For New Zealand, Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson are yet to open their accounts with the ball in hand.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to the day’s play in Mount Maunganui