Phillips kings over Bangladesh as hosts reach 310-9 at stumps on day 1

Bangladesh's batters will once again rue what could have been as all of them failed to capitalise on good starts that they got on a batting-friendly surface at Sylhet during the first day of the first Test against New Zealand as they managed 310-9 at stumps.

Despite Mahmudul Hasan Joy doing well at the top of the order for the host, he failed to capitalise and score a big hundred as it was Glenn Phillips who ruled the roost by spinning a web around the Tigers on his Test debut by taking four wickets for 53 runs in his 16 overs.

With both teams kicking off their new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with this Test, the visitors will be happier among the two camps.

It was an all-too-familiar story for Bangladesh with the bat on a good surface as stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to bat first.

New Zealand's fast bowlers - captain Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson - got the ball to talk early on but the Bangladesh openers averted any danger. 

That brought the spinners into the attack within the first 10 overs but they didn't look too dangerous either.

Joy and Zakir Hasan looked good together for the opening partnership before Ajaz Patel got a delivery to go through the defences of Zakir; it was a good ball that was flatter and faster and hit the top of off and Zakir wanted to cut it but simply didn't have the room.

What happens next though will be what Bangladesh will be more irate with.

Shanto came in and played some good positive cricket before mishitting and getting out to a full toss ball that really should have been dispatched for six; he scored 37 from 35 balls and was set for a lot more.

Former Test captain Mominul Haque also looked composed during his time at the crease but then found himself getting caught behind trying to play a ball too full and with very little width to cut.

The southpaw was gone for 37 as well and both wickets were taken by New Zealand's fifth-choice bowler Phillips, his first two wickets in Test cricket. 

Phillips, who was mainly a wicketkeeper-batter has developed his bowling in white-ball cricket very nicely and had a good time with the ball during the World Cup too.

But one feels both wickets could have easily been avoided had the batters not thrown it away.

Joy reached his half-century on the other end and rode his luck a bit as there were runs off edges and some near misses, but his luck ran out at 86 runs as Ish Sodhi had his number.

At that point, one would have felt that Bangladesh's batters would curb their instincts of playing too many shots but the experienced campaigner Mushfiqur Rahim did just the opposite by throwing his wicket away to an innocuous ball by Ajaz which Rahim lobbed up to the hands of Kane Williamson. 

The hosts had gone from 180-2 to 210-5 in that space and given up control of the game to the Black Caps.

Mushfiq's ugly dismissal exposed the lower-middle order of the batting and that made Kiwi captain Southee bring his tall pacer Jamieson back in what was a top decision.

Given Mehidy Hasan Miraz's traditional weakness against pace and the rising delivery, Jamieson was always going to prove a handful, and he did as Miraz perished next for 20.

Shahadat Hossain Dipu looked composed on debut but much like most of the batting, he got out to a delivery that was a harmless-looking one from Phillips.

Nurul Hasan, who got an opportunity to don the whites with Litton Das opting out of the Test, batted aggressively but never looked settled. He got out another poor delivery by Phillips which was going down the leg for 29.

The tail chipped in with some runs before Nayeem Hasan slashed at a wide one from Jamieson to have Bangladesh nine down.

What looked like a 450-plus score for Bangladesh in the first innings now looks well short of what would have been par.