HAMILTON, New Zealand (Reuters)
New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart believes there is still a chance of a result in the first test against Bangladesh, despite the first two days being washed out by rain.

"There is still time to win it," Aberhart said after the second day's play was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

"We have to play positive with the bat and give ourselves enough time to get 20 wickets. If we get out tomorrow we've still got 315 overs left, which could be plenty of time."

The only meaningful action so far came when Bangladesh skipper Khaled Masud elected to field after winning the toss on Wednesday. The coin was flipped under dark skies which opened up five minutes later to prevent play starting.

"Mother Nature has the upper hand so far," said Aberhart who has his eye on the world Test championship. New Zealand are currently fifth in the table but can move up to third with series victories over Bangladesh and against England in February and March.

"We're feeling good after a good showing in Australia," Aberhart said. "If we do well from now on we'll get up to third, which New Zealand has never been before, and that'll be great."

Dion Nash, who missed the recent Australian tour with a side strain, scored 118 for his Auckland provincial side against Otago in Dunedin and also bowled well after his stint with the bat.

"That's great to hear," Aberhart said. "Nash could be a linchpin of the one-day series in Australia (in January and February) and it's good to see he's getting back to form."

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