This live coverage has finished
Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Blackcaps v Bangladesh test at Sylhet International Stadium.
On the opening day, the home side won the toss and chose to bat, compiling 301/9 before stumps were taken early for bad light.
Bangladesh threatened to take full control of the contest during the first session, when captain Najmul Hossain Shanto raced to 37 off 35 balls, including three sixes, with opener Mahmudal Hasan Joy held down the innings at the other end.
After lunch, Joy and Mominul Haque dominated the NZ bowlers, taking the score to 180/2, but when both fell in consecutive overs, the batting order lost their way somewhat and failed to take full advantage of their position.
New Zealand sprang a mild surprise by not including World Cup batting star Rachin Ravindra in their line-up, but the man who edge him out - Glenn Phillips - proved most effective with the ball, taking 4/36 in his first test bowling appearance.
Last time the Blackcaps played tests in Bangladesh, both encounters ended in draws, but the opening day of this one suggests a result is on the cards, if the visitors can dig in with the bat on day two.
Join us at 4:30pm for resumption of play or watch live on ThreeNow.
TAB Odds: NZ $1.78, Bangladesh $2.75, Draw $6.10
Phillips takes next step towards allrounder status as Blackcaps fight back against Bangladesh
Is there a job Glenn Phillips can't do for the Blackcaps?
Before knee issues forced him to give up the gloves, Phillips began his international career as a wicketkeeper, but has slowly morphed into a genuine option with the ball.
Fresh from a Cricket World Cup campaign that arguably saw him stand out for his bowling as much as batting, he has taken the next step in his fledgling career as an allrounder.
Picked as a batting allrounder for the opening test between the Blackcaps and Bangladesh, Phillips, 26, repaid selectors faith in full on day one in Sylhet.
As the Blackcaps lost the toss and were asked to bowl, Phillips returned the best figures of the day, taking 4/53 from 16 overs - two more than specialist spinner Ish Sodhi bowled - to limit the hosts to 310/9 at stumps.
Phillips' return to the test side comes more than four years after his first appearance, when he debuted in a depleted side on the ill-fated tour to Australia, making a half-century at Sydney, before New Zealand was whitewashed 3-0.
While Phillips hasn't quite shed the tag of a part-time bowler, his display went a long way towards proving his worth to coach Gary Stead's test plans, especially in the spin-friendly subcontinent.
Despite his ability to contribute to New Zealand's cause in all three disciplines, Phillips makes no bones of his desire to be a test-level allrounder and cement himself as a fixture in all three formats.
"I've been trying to lose the wicketkeeper-batter tag for a long time now," he joked. "Hopefully, this puts a little bit more of a stamp on things.
"I've worked really hard on [bowling] for quite a number of years now, with pretty much this goal in mind. In order to play test cricket, I needed to offer something with the ball, as our batting lineup is incredibly strong.
"To be able to play that allrounder role was the key to being able to get an opportunity. A mix of team selection, line-up and conditions, everything sort of worked nicely today.
"I've worked quite hard over the last few years to find a process for my bowling... I got a little bit lucky early on, sometimes you need a little bit of luck.
"Hopefully, if you put in the work, sometimes that luck will go your way."
On Wednesday, Phillips will return to the bowling crease, hoping to take the final Bangladesh wicket and complete his maiden five-wicket haul in any form of the game.
His efforts went a long way to restricting Bangladesh, who appeared to break the backs of the Blackcaps on day one, but from 180/2, the tourists fought back and took 130/7 with the ball to bring themselves back into the contest.
On a wicket prepared to suit Bangladesh's army of spinners, first-innings runs will be key, if the Blackcaps are to push for victory over the next four days.
After coming back from a potentially dangerous position, Phillips says honours are even heading into day two.
"At the end of any sort of first day of red-ball cricket, if you're looking at 300/7 or eight - in our case nine - you're probably looking at a pretty enjoyable day," he continued.
"There were patches where Bangladesh had us on the ropes and we pulled it back nicely. We had some really good periods and showed that if we built a lot of pressure, we'll get the rewards.
"We'll probably walk away and say it was a 50-50 day. We put in some really good yards, had a lot of good plans and tried to be as patient as possible.
"Obviously, the batters were allowed to play good shots as well. It's probably pretty even at the end of the day."
