South Africa national cricket team would be quite delighted after bundling out the Bangladeshi team for 106 runs. Skipper Najmul Shanto had mentioned during the toss that they want to put a decent score on board while batting first but the batters lacked application on spicy wicket. South Africa last had played a Test series way back in 2015 in which both the Test matches were drawn due to inclement weather and from that tour only Kagiso Rabada and Temba Bavuma are in this squad.
It won’t be wrong to say that the hosts badly missed the services of Shakib-Al-Hasan who was advised by Bangladeshi government to not come to Bangladesh for Test series following turmoil in the country and citizens quite furious on the all-rounder. Shakib is someone who can grind the opposition bowlers and also at the same time can guide the players in tricky phase.
Wiaan Mulder & Kagiso Rabada annihilate hosts in the morning session
Kagiso Rabada attained a massive feat by taking his 300th Test wicket. By doing that he become the fewest balls taken for 300 wickets as he completed in 11817 balls as earlier Pakistan’s Waqar Younis had taken 300 Test wickets in 12602. Kagiso Rabada thrashed Mushfiqur Rahim’s stumps as earlier Wiaan Mulder inflicted a lot of damage. Surprisingly, Rabada & Wiaan made life harder for the hosts despite the wicket being a rank turner.
The hosts looked clueless with the pace & bounce and it seemed as if they were in a hurry to smash boundaries and dictate the terms rather than toiling the bowlers. At the end of morning session, Bangladesh had lost 6 wickets for 60 runs as the top order was back into the dug out except the opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy who was 16 runs in 86 balls.
Bangladesh fell like a pack of cards and Proteas hand out the counter attack punch in afternoon session
Aiden Markram, the stand in skipper (Temba Bavuma injured) marshalled his troops brilliantly and post morning session, South Africa wraped up the Bangladesh’s innings for a below par 106 runs. The highest partnership for the hosts was of 26 runs for the 9th wicket. Mahmudul Hasan was the only batter who looked promising but couldn’t convert his start as he was dismissed for 30 runs in 97 balls and struck 2 fours and 1 six. Rabada, Mulder & Keshav took 3 wickets each and bowled wicket to wicket hardly giving any freebies.
Aiden Markram was bowled in the very first over of match by a peach of a delivery by the fast pacer Hasan Mahmud. The visitors didn’t panic as Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs rotated the strike and didn’t allow the bowlers to settle. At the end of session, Tristan was outfoxed by Taijul Islam after being dropped on 8 runs as the batter was dismissed on 23 runs in 27 balls. Given the context of the match, even the contribution of 20s can be very handy on a treacherous pitch. South Africa scored 65 runs in 16 overs at the end of afternoon session and Tony de Zorzi was calm and composed in his approach.
Bangladesh make a comeback but Proteas a bit ahead in the game
Taijul Islam took a 5 wicket haul and got rid of the dangerous looking Tony de Zorzi and Ryan Rickelton who were scoring quickly and making good use of the crease. The debutant Breetzke had a forgettable outing as he was bowled where he left a delivery which turned back into the stumps. Taijul now has taken 201 Test wickets for Bangladesh which is a massive achievement and he looks all set to surpass Shakib-Al-Hasan who has 246 Test wicket to his name.
South Africa’s score was 108-6 in 31.3 overs and their 1st innings lead was 2 runs when all of their top order batters were back in the dressing room. The flamboyant all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and wicket-keeper batter Kyle Verreyne formed a quick-fire unbeaten partnership of 32 runs in 57 balls. Wiaan Mulder in particular capitalised on loose deliveries. Due to bad light, the game was stopped with 7 overs left in the Day’s play. South Africa’s score was 140-6 and they have a lead of 34 runs and the hosts would be disappointed with the bowling performance of Mehidy Hasan Miraz who couldn’t contain the batters and bowled a bit too short deliveries which didn’t harm the batters.
What lies ahead on Day 2
The 1st Test match has progressed quite quickly unexpectedly, the hosts badly need to wrap up the innings quickly. Perhaps, Taijul Islam needs to bowl long spell in the morning session on Day 2 as he has looked a bit unplayable. It won’t be a bad idea to have a 3-4 over spell of Hasan Mahmud from other end given reverse swing can come into play. Najmul Shanto needs to make sure that South African batters aren’t getting easy singles as every run from here on-wards will be gold-dust for the visitors.
If South Africa get their lead past 100 runs then they have a strong chance of winning the test match. The pitch is going to deteriorate a lot in 3rd innings and the visitors would be well aware of the fact that chasing 150+ won’t be easy at all. Proteas still have the services of Rabada & Keshav who can play quick-fire cameos if needed but all eyes will be on Wiaan Mulder who has looked phenomenal both with bat and ball and he is tipped to be the next Jacque Kallis of South Africa.