Vettori took his team to within 19 of their target on a tense final day

Bangladesh fell short of a maiden Test win over New Zealand as the Kiwis edged to a three-wicket victory.

New Zealand resumed an intriguing match requiring a further 172 runs with eight wickets left, but lost Aaron Redmond for 79 in the 15th over of the morning.

Ross Taylor cut tamely to point and when Brendon McCullum was the victim of a debatable lbw decision, New Zealand were 216-5, still needing another 101.

Daniel Vettori (76) and Daniel Flynn (49) shared 82 as the Kiwis scraped in.

After a quiet start on the final day in Chittagong, Vettori cracked boundaries in successive overs on either side of the wicket as Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzaq dropped short.

Redmond moved into the 70s with two pleasing drives in an over from Shahadat Hossain as the Kiwis negotiated the opening hour with ease.

But Redmond edged pushing forward at left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan and was caught at slip.

The new ball was taken after 83 overs and shortly after, Taylor guided a short, wide delivery from Mortaza straight into the hands of substitute fielder Mahbubul Alam.

In the second over after lunch, McCullum was given out lbw by umpire Ashoka de Silva when replays showed the ball had pitched outside leg-stump.

Left-handers Vettori and Flynn played watchfully for the next few overs, but Flynn relieved the tension with two fours off the back foot in an over from Shakib.

New Zealand still needed 36 at tea, and after the first over of the final session was played out as a maiden, boundaries came in each of the next three overs.

606: DEBATE Will Bangladesh rise up the rankings?

But having recorded his 18th Test fifty, Vettori went for a wild slog at Razzak and the ball turned out of the rough to knock back his off-stump.

The runs were eked out, and seven short of victory Flynn was dropped on 44 by Tigers skipper Mohammad Ashraful, who spilled the mis-hit at mid-off.

With just one run needed for victory, Flynn was dismissed for 49 for the second time in his short career, caught off bat and pad at short-leg.

Finally, Kyle Mills hit the winning single to give New Zealand a lead going into the second and final Test at Mirpur on Saturday.

Vettori was pleased to lead from the front in his nightwatchman role.

"I think it's always important that the captain sets the standards," he said.

"But the other guys also contributed and we chased down 317 against a team which was very dominating and threatening."

"There was apprehension but I got a good partner in Flynn and had a good partnership which was required at that time. I am pleased with the batting effort."

Counterpart Ashraful admitted that Vettori provided the obstacle to his team achieving a famous win, but insisted that elusive success could happen in the next match.

"It was a good game where we dominated most of the time but I think Vettori made the difference," he said. "It was a very good game and we look forward to the second Test to square this series."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version