December 13, 2001	Thursday	Ramazan 27, 1422

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AUCKLAND, Dec 12: Left-arm seamer Manjurul Islam picked up two early wickets for Bangladesh after his side were bundled out by Auckland for 120 on the first day of the tour match Wednesday.

Auckland reached 79 for two at stumps, with former New Zealand Test opener Matt Horne 34 not out and Aaron Barnes 18.

Manjurul took advantage of some green patches left over from Bangladesh’s innings and moved the ball both ways through the air and off the seam.

His two victims were New Zealand’s openers from the Perth Test against Australia last week, Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent.

Richardson was out in the first over, brilliantly caught down the leg side by wicket-keeper and Bangladesh skipper Khaled Mashud, while Vincent was out with the score on 35 for 15, not playing a shot to a ball that swung in.

Earlier Bangladesh, who lost the toss and were put in by Auckland captain Brooke Walker, had been undone by their own impatience as Auckland skittled them for just 120.

Top scorer was Mashud, who had a fine captain’s knock lasting 118 minutes for 30 not out.

The Bangladesh openers acquitted themselves well for 26 runs in just under an hour under exacting batting conditions on the pitch, which pleased coach Trevor Chappell.

“Those boys did well because it certainly wasn’t easy out there,” Chappell said. “But once that partnership was over we fell apart, which is a common thing for us. They were playing too much outside off stump and they paid the price.

“Manjurul looked good and those were two important wickets to get, but we can’t really be satisfied with the day’s play.”