Raval scores maiden Test ton as Black Caps dominate

Hamilton, March 1: Jeet Raval scored his maiden century as New Zealand dominated Bangladesh on day two of the first Test in Hamilton.

Playing his 17th Test, Raval finally ended his wait for a ton, making 132 at Seddon Park on Friday.

The 30-year-old capitalised on a docile pitch as the Black Caps pushed to 451 for four at stumps, leading by 217 to be well on top in the series opener.

Tom Latham (161), Kane Williamson (93 not out) and Henry Nicholls (53) also made runs against a Bangladesh attack struggling to create chances.

Resuming at 86 for no loss, Raval and Latham were untroubled to start the day, although there were some brief, and minor, signs of variable bounce.

There was no denying Raval, who made a chance-less century – his first since his Test debut in November 2016.

Raval smashed Ebadat Hossain (0-77) for back-to-back boundaries to bring up the milestone.

Dropped when he was yet to score on day one, Latham made the most of his life, although he endured a nervous moment getting to his century.

The left-hander's top edge went for four as a hopeful fielder came around on the boundary, bringing up his ninth Test ton.

Raval fell to Mahmudullah (1-3) to end a 254-run opening stand before Latham departed, Mohammad Mithun taking a great diving catch off Soumya Sarkar (2-57).

Only Ross Taylor (4) missed out of New Zealand's top-order, trapped lbw by Soumya.

Williamson and Nicholls combined for a 100-run stand, broken when the latter left a Mehidy Hasan (1-149) delivery that hit his off stump in the third last over of the day.