Close New Zealand 72 for 0 (Richardson 38*, Horne 30*) are 60 runs behind Bangladesh
scorecard

Wellington's wild weather conspired against New Zealand burying Bangladesh on the second day of the second Test at the Basin Reserve.

New Zealand's openers, Matthew Horne and Mark Richardson, were poised to build on their overnight total of 72 for 0 this morning. But the unforgiving weather halted their march – cards in the dressing-room was the only play possible.

The weather teased for several hours. The rain blew over, then blew back in just as quickly as the wind picked up. It picked up the covers as well. Two groundsmen and a press photographer were buried beneath a billowing canvas spinnaker that would have looked more at home in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Finally, at 4.35pm local time, the umpires put everyone out of their misery and abandoned play for the day. An early start tomorrow (11.30am local time) might make up some of the lost time - if the ground is fit for play by then.

Lunch New Zealand 72 for 0 (Richardson 38*, Horne 30*) are 60 runs behind Bangladesh

The Basin Reserve at Wellington was under water this morning, and no play was possible before lunch. Prospects for a resumption some time after the interval look a little brighter.

The squalling showers that disrupted the Australia v South Africa Test at Melbourne yesterday finally made it across the Tasman just after 10am local time this morning.

Wellington has been no stranger to rain in recent weeks, and the ground was quickly awash. Rain nearly saved Bangladesh in the first Test at Hamilton, when despite the loss of the first two days to rain, New Zealand still managed to wrap up that match by an innings and 52 runs.

The script looks pretty much unchanged here. Bangladesh struggled yesterday to a meagre 132. The only players to show much resistance were Aminul Islam (42) and Al-Sahariar Rokon (18).

New Zealand nearly wiped off the deficit last night. Openers Matthew Horne (30) and Mark Richardson (38) steered them to 72 without loss, only 60 behind. They will be raring to go if a restart can be made later today.

Teams
New Zealand 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Matthew Horne, 3 Lou Vincent, 4 Mathew Sinclair, 5 Stephen Fleming (capt), 6 Craig McMillan, 7 Chris Cairns, 8 Adam Parore (wk), 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Shane Bond, 11 Chris Drum.

Bangladesh 1 Javed Omar, 2 Al-Sahariar Rokon, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 Aminul Islam, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Sanwar Hossain, 7 Khaled Mashud (capt and wk), 8 Khaled Mahmud, 9 Hasibul Hossain, 10 Mashrafee bin Murtoza, 11 Manjural Islam.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd