The Black Caps have somehow managed to save themselves from [complete] humiliation in the first Test against Bangladesh, with a three wicket win over the home side.

This was a Test the Black Caps should have won easily, but they struggled against the spin attack of the Bangladesh bowlers, and even struggled to dismiss the tail end of the Bangladesh batting lineup.

Going into the last innings the Black Caps needed 317 runs to win, and it was going to take one hell of an effort for them to chase down the total. It was always going to be possible, but several of the Black Cap batsmen would need to do their job [for once].

Aaron Redmond, Jaime How and Jesse Ryder all chimed in to get the innings off to a good start, with Redmond going on to make 79 in what was a good platform for the middle order.

Vettori came in as night watchman when Ryder got run out at the end of day four, which turned out to be the best decision the Black Caps made the whole Test. Vettori and Redmond continued to push towards the 317 run target at the beginning of day five, and everything was going well until Redmond got himself caught only 21 runs away from his first century.

Then, the wheels began to fall off.

(What? Off the Black Caps? Noooooo.)

Taylor went cheaply, before McCullum was given out lbw in what could easily be the worst decision of the century. The ball pitched way outside leg, and it wouldn't have even come close to hitting the stumps. Not that that's relevant when the ball pitches outside leg, but it just made the decision that much worse. It's yet another case for the need to have video umpires step in when poor decisions are made.

The Black Caps looked to be falling into old traps, and with only Vettori, Oram and Flynn left (of the notable batsmen...) the game was hanging in the balance.

Fortunately for the Black Caps, Daniel Flynn came out and played the best innings of his short career, as he and Vettori got the Black Caps back on track and heading towards the winners circle.

Both batsmen were eventually dismissed (Vettori 76, Flynn 49), but they had already done enough to secure the win.

Flynn showed a lot of patience as he helped tick the score over just enough to keep the Black Caps on target. It was by no means the most exciting cricket to watch, but in the scheme of things it was what was needed at the time.

Vettori was without a doubt New Zealand's best player, as he chalked up his second half century of the match, and took nine wickets - becoming only the second captain in history to score a fifty in each innings and take four wickets per innings. That's impressive.

The only problem is that he usually bats at 8 or 9, and he's easily our best batsman at the moment. Says a bit about the guys above him, really...

Bangladesh will rue their chance to beat an established Test playing nation, but they did not play as well on the final day as they had throughout the previous four days. Their field placements were somewhat unusual for a team that needed to take eight wickets in the final day. They have a lot to do to keep improving, but improve they will.

With one more Test to go, it's hard to see the Black Caps performing so poorly again - specially as Bangladesh will be hurting from the loss, and are a team that thrives on confidence, which will be at a low now.

One thing's for sure - if the Black Caps don't improve significantly (SIGNIFICANTLY, LADS) then some changes may well be around the corner. It's time to start impressing the new coach - whoever that may be.

Photo from Flickr - HNM_1977