BAN vs SA : Kyle Verreynne’s Stunning Ton Gives South Africa A Mammoth Lead; Bangladeshi Batters Put Up A Fight As Test Match Hangs In Quite Equal Balance

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South Africa’s Kyle Verreynne became the first wicketkeeper batter from his nation to score a Test hundred in Bangladesh on Tuesday, October 22 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.  Kyle Verreynne played a magnificent innings of 114 (144) on Day 2 of the first Test against Bangladesh and helped his team take a massive lead of 202 runs in the first innings.

Kyle Verreynne also made the fifth Test hundred by a South African in Bangladesh. Of the five, he is the only one to be dismissed without scoring a double hundred. He had come into the Test series with a Test average of 27.65, which shot up to 30.85 over the course of one innings. South Africa eventually made 308. At the time of writing, Bangladesh were 21-2, and needed another 181 to avoid innings defeat.

Day 2 : Morning Session : Kyle Verreynne, Mulder fifties put South Africa in firm control till Lunch

Half-centuries by Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder helped South Africa take a sizeable lead in the first Test against Bangladesh. The duo added 119 runs for the seventh wicket to help the visitors reach 243 for 8 at Lunch on Day 2 at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, on Tuesday.

After having bundled out Bangladesh for 102 on the opening day, South Africa were reduced to 108 for 6 before Kyle Verreynne and Mulder had steadied the innings briefly on Monday evening. However, they continued to remain steady for an hour and a half on the second morning and helped the visitors firmly establish control of the contest.

After a couple of quiet overs to begin the day, Kyle Verreynne stroked a couple of boundaries off Hasan Mahmud to get going. The duo didn’t take too many risks, but were quick to pick on run-scoring opportunities. Kyle Verreynne did premeditate some sweeps against the spinners, and used the shot to good effect.

Mulder, on the other hand, opted for a more straight-bat approach, and brought up the century of the stand with a crisp drive through cover off Taijul Islam. In the next over, however, he was put down on 47 by Mominul Haque at short leg, where he made a lazy effort to hold on to an inside edge. He couldn’t make Bangladesh pay too heavily for the dropped chance, departing eight runs later, but went on to register his maiden Test fifty.

Hasan Mahmud struck twice in two balls, having Mulder caught at wide slip and cleaning up Keshav Maharaj, but it was a session where South Africa took the momentum away from Bangladesh. Kyle Verreynne remained unbeaten and stretched his innings to 77 at Lunch break.

Earlier, the overnight pair of Kyle Verreynne and Mulder took their seventh-wicket to 119. The pitch seemed to have settled nicely for batting on the second morning, with no apparent turn available for Taijul. Kyle Verreynne particularly looked assured against Hasan Mahmud, who had started the day alongside Taijul, nudging the pacer past mid-on for three, and clipping and driving him for boundaries.

Taijul then had Mulder poking, only for the outside edge to fall short of slip. That had as much to do with Mulder playing with soft hands as the slowness of the surface. Mulder and Kyle Verreynne adjusted to the pitch, and calmly did the job against the spin of Taijul and Nayeem.
Both batters used the sweep and the reverse sweep to great effect despite Nayeem turning the ball in appreciably on occasion.
That was down to them taking a good stride forward to get to the pitch of the deliveries, and playing their shots with confidence. They played 38 sweeps – or reverse sweeps – against spin on the second morning, and got 59 runs off them, including seven boundaries and a six.
Bangladesh posted a man close in at square leg to prevent the batters from earning easy runs from the sweep, and yet  Kyle Verreynne got to his half-century when he drilled one to the man there. Mulder then got to his half-century at the start of the 64th over, when he cut Nayeem for four behind point.

Day 2 : Post Lunch Session : Kyle Verreynne’s ton, Rabada’s early strikes put South Africa in pole position

Kagiso Rabada struck twice as Bangladesh were reduced to 19 for 2 at Tea on Day 2 after South Africa posted 308 at the back of Kyle Kyle Verreynne’s second Test century. The visitors need eight wickets to win, with a 183-run advantage currently against Bangladesh.

Kyle Verreynne, who had seen South Africa through the last half an hour of play on Monday evening and then batted out the morning session on Tuesday, continued to hold the key for the visitors as the lower order kept the Bangladeshi bowlers at bay for longer than anticipated.

Dane Piedt, who had joined Kyle Verreynne late in the morning session, put on a 72-run stand with the wicketkeeper-batter. Without taking many risks, on a surface where batting had become considerably easy, the duo kept working around the gaps to keep the scoreboard moving, as Kyle Verreynne kept employing the sweeps to good effect, much like he had done in the morning session.

Soon after bringing up his century, Kyle Verreynne stepped out and slammed the first six of the innings, hitting Nayeem Hasan over deep mid wicket. However, soon enough, Mehidy Hasan – who had trapped Piedt leg before earlier – had Kyle Verreynne stumped.The advantage South Africa enjoyed was down to Verreynne. He swept every other ball that came his way, and when he finally missed one, he was stumped by Litton Das. That ended South Africa’s innings at 308 but by then, Kyle Verreynne had raced to his hundred. He took just 144 balls to score 114, becoming only the third wicketkeeper-batter from his country to get a Test hundred in Asia. Fittingly, the landmark came off a paddle sweep off Taijul Islam in the 86th over.

Both Kyle Verreynne’s sixes were pumped once he was past the three-figure mark: one a slog-sweep off the wicketless Nayeem Hasan, and the other a pull off Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Just before that, Mehidy had broken a frustrating ninth-wicket stand of 66. Piedt, who batted solidly, nudged and pushed his way to 32 before he was trapped in front off the 87th delivery he had faced.

It turned in and he was given out on field. Piedt reviewed, and it returned an umpire’s call. And immediately after Kyle Verreynne’s second six, Mehidy slowed the ball down to have him stumped.

However, South Africa had taken a sizeable 202-run lead, which was further strengthened by Rabada, who snapped the wickets of Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque early. Shadman was sent packing courtesy a fine catch by Tony de Zorzi at short leg and Mominul was undone by the extra bounce which took the outside edge of the bat and went straight to Wiaan Mulder at slips.

Earlier in the day, a 119-run stand between Mulder and  Kyle Verreynne had ensured that South Africa take firm control in the contest despite the twin strikes of Mahmud Hasan.

The day belonged to Kyle Verreynne, who hit his second Test century in the afternoon session. That, combined with Wiaan Mulder’s maiden half-century and Piedt’s resistance from No. 10, took South Africa to 308 despite them being 108 for 6 at one stage. And with a cushion of a 202-run first-innings lead, Kagiso Rabada struck twice early in the second innings to have Bangladesh at 4 for 2, before a fightback from Mahmudul, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim

Day 2 : Post Lunch Session : Bangladesh struggle to keep up after Kyle Verreynne century and Rabada double-strike

Mahmudul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim’s unbeaten 42-run stand steadied Bangladesh and helped them to 101 for 3 at the end of the second day’s play at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Monday. However, South Africa, who were bundled out for 108 earlier in the day, at the back of Kyle Verreynne’s century, continue to hold a commanding position in the first Test, with a 101-run lead.

The overnight duo of Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder kept the Bangladesh bowlers at bay for the first hour and a half, taking advantage of the conditions that had become easier for batting. Having come together on Monday evening with the visitors holding a marginal six-run lead, the duo extended their alliance to 119 runs, helping South Africa firmly take control of the contest.

Verreynne, especially, used the sweep shot to good effect against the spinners while Mulder relied more on striking the ball in front of the wickets. Mulder was dropped on 47, and went on to register his maiden Test fifty, but couldn’t carry on for too long. A few minutes before Lunch, Hasan Mahmud struck twice in two balls to help Bangladesh regain some ground. Mulder got an outside edge to wide slip while Keshav Maharaj was cleaned up.

Nonetheless, Kyle Verreynne continued to keep the scoreboard moving in the company of Dane Piedt as the ninth-wicket pair added 66 runs, with Kyle Verreynne twice sending the spinners over the mid-wicket fence soon after bringing up his second Test ton. No.10 Piedt also played his part in the alliance, using his cuts and drives to good effect before eventually getting trapped leg before by Mehidy Hasan on 32. He took a review, but the decision stayed on umpire’s call.
Kyle Verreynne, who continued to be on the offensive, was eventually undone by Mehidy’s flight, which beat him and Litton Das was quick to have the batter stumped.

The situation only became worse for the hosts in their second innings with Kagiso Rabada striking twice just before Tea. Tony de Zorzi took a brilliant catch at short leg to send back Shadman Islam while Mominul Haque was undone by the extra bounce which caught the edge to third slip. However, despite being firmly on the backfoot, Najmul Shanto didn’t go on the defensive. He was quick on his drives and pulls after the Tea break, going after both Rabada and Mulder. He even stepped out to Keshav Maharaj and lofted him for a six over long off.

There were times that the South African bowlers did trouble the duo; at times hitting them on the pads, at times beating their bat. They survived for a while before Shanto was eventually trapped leg before by Maharaj on 23, bringing to an end a promising 55-run alliance.

However, that was to be the last success of the day for the visitors. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudul were quick to latch on to scoring opportunities. With the lights fading, Mahmudul nearly offered Maharaj a return catch, but the spinner dropped a difficult chance. Stumps were called in the next over owing to poor light, helping Bangladesh take the contest to the third day with still seven wickets in hand.

Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque fell for single-digit scores within the first four overs for the second time in as many days, as Rabada extracted plenty of pace and bounce with the new ball. His wickets came off back-of-a-length deliveries. In the third over, he got one to nip into Shadman, who inside-edged to short leg, where Tony de Zorzi took a sharp catch to his left. Three balls later, Mominul went defending but got an outside edge to third slip, where Mulder went low to grab a dipping ball.

Mahmudul and Shanto added 55 to rebuild briefly, before Keshav Maharaj trapped Shanto in front. Maharaj got a full delivery to turn in from outside off, and Shanto, who had opened his stance up in looking to defend, was struck on his back leg, which was dragging towards off.

Mushfiqur then hit an entertaining 31 off 26 deliveries in an unbroken stand of 42 with Mahmudul to ensure there was no further damage, although Bangladesh still ended the day 101 runs behind South Africa.

Seven balls after bringing the light meter out for the first time on day two, the umpires pulled the plug on the day’s play because of bad light. If that was somewhat abrupt, a third-umpire decision that took its time coming added drama to what turned out to be the last delivery of the day.

Road Ahead on Day 3 for SA and Bangladesh

South Africa have strengthened their grip on this game with a brilliant all-round performance today. They didn’t give a sniff to Bangladesh and have kept them on their toes throughout. The day started with Kyle Verreynne and Mulder continuing the good work with bat. The former used sweeps to great effect while the latter executed the reverse sweeps to put the Bangladeshi spinners under pressure.

Mulder’s maiden fifty, Kyle Verreynne’s brilliant century and Piedt’s resistance helped the Proteas to gain a substantial lead of 202. In reply, Bangladesh once again faltered with the bat upfront. Shadman was trapped at short leg and soon after, Mominul was outfoxed by a peach, courtesy Rabada on both occasions.

Maharaj took his time to find his rhythm but once he did, he was probing as ever. A fifty run-stand between Mahmudul and Shanto transpired but Maharaj trapped Shanto in front before the partnership could blossom. Both Maharaj and Piedt got the ball to turn and bounce and kept causing problems to the batters at the fag end of the day.

Mahmudul has been resilient and he has the experienced Mushfiqur for company who has just gone past 6000 Test runs (the first Bangladeshi batter to do so). The hosts are still behind by 101 runs and will need all the experience of Mushfiqur to help them navigate through. It’s not going to be easy though as the SA bowlers will relentlessly come at them.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “Side Arm Specialists In India Need To Work Hard To Prepare Batters For Tough Times”- Abhishek Jain Gives His Invaluable Insights

 

 


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