Tamim Iqbal was within five runs of breaking a century drought that has lasted three years before a fine catch at gully shortly before tea prolonged the wait. It turned out to be a better session for New Zealand as they claimed three wickets to stall Bangladesh's progress.

Tamim's wicket would have come as a massive relief to New Zealand after they let him get away twice at the start of the innings. He was reprieved on 5 and 10, edging behind off Doug Bracewell on both occasions. In the first instance, the wicketkeeper BJ Watling dived to his left and spilled the catch as the ball headed towards first slip. Two overs later, Tamim edged towards second slip where the captain Brendon McCullum put down a more regulation chance.

Tamim made New Zealand pay for those let-offs with a flurry of boundaries through the off side. He sped towards his fifty with consecutive boundaries off the offspinner Kane Williamson, stepping down the track and lofting towards cover.

Marshall Ayub, who said before this Test that he was keen to make the No.3 spot his own, began positively, driving his second ball through cover for four. He was strong off Bracewell, scoring two consecutive boundaries before taking on Neil Wagner with boundaries over point. He looked set for a maiden Test fifty before he lost his offstump to Wagner, walking back for an aggressive 62-ball 41 with six fours. His wicket halted a steady stand, but it was reassuring for the hosts that a set Tamim was still at the crease at lunch.

Mominul Haque maintained a brisk scoring rate after lunch, scoring boundaries over the off side off the seamers. Bangladesh brought up their 150 within 37 overs and the partnership had progressed to 76 before Mominul threw his wicket away. With a fifty for the taking, he chased a wide delivery from Corey Anderson and edged to the wicketkeeper.

Tamim stepped up a gear, scoring three fours in an over off Bracewell, the third of which was edged wide of slip and prompted an exchange between the two. He entered the 90s with a straight driven boundary off Williamson and but on 95, he tried to slash a short delivery from Wagner over the slips but ended up placing it to the right of gully, where Williamson took a good catch. Since his only hundred in home Tests since January 2010, Tamim has scored seven fifties in 19 home innings without a century.

At 209 for 4, Bangladesh were in a position to consolidate but lost yet another wicket, this time at the stroke of tea. Shakib Al Hasan tried to sweep the legspinner Ish Sodhi but was trapped in front of the stumps. New Zealand had the opening they needed though the batsmen, with the exception of Marshall, were guilty of gifting their wickets away.