For the first time on South African soil, the bowlers set the stage for a Test victory and a dream come true. But the ultimate batting failure shattered that dream at an embarrassing rate.
Chasing 264 runs, Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer’s rotation ended Bangladesh’s second innings with only 53 runs. Mominul Haque’s team has a big partner of 220 runs in Durban Test. The win gave South Africa a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Bangladeshi batsmen could not stand down to chase the run. Keshav Maharaj’s poisonous whirlwind took 6 wickets for 33 runs at a time.
Whether Bangladesh will score 50 runs or not, that fear arose. Nazmul Hossain took a quiet edge and removed some embarrassment. The Tigers were able to touch 50.
However, Shanto, who had been relying on him since he was 50, also got out. Harmer’s ball fell into the trap of stamping Shant. He made 28 runs in four sixes off 52 balls.
Bangladesh’s innings ended with two bowlers. Keshav Maharaj took 6 wickets for 32 runs and Harmer took the remaining 3 wickets for 21 runs.
Despite playing a big push the day before, Bangladesh went down to play on the fifth day with high hopes. Experienced batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was on the wicket. His experience lasted only five balls.
Mushfiqur returned to zero in the first over of the day, leaving the team in disarray. When Keshav Maharaj hit the delivery pad, the umpire raised his finger on the application. Mushfiqur took the review. But as it turned out, the ball hit the clear wicket.
Then Liton Das also sat down to play a suicide shot. The wicket-keeper batsman (2) made a catch in the mid-on to kill Maharaj. Bangladesh fell into a catastrophe. The Tigers lost 5 wickets for 18 runs.
Muminul Haque’s team could not overcome that disaster. One by one Yasir Ali Rabbi (5) and Mehdi Hasan Mirajra (0) took the path to the toilet.
Maharaj completed his puffer by bowling Yasir. Mehdi Miraj was caught by Petersen while trying to kill Harmer. Bangladesh lost 6 wickets for 33 runs and faced great shame.
From there, Shant has somehow taken the team up to fifty. He, too, stepped forward in the whirlpool of Harmer and finally fell into the trap of Stampier.
The previous day at Kingsmead in Durban, Bangladesh had bowled out South Africa for 204 in the second innings and got a target of 264 runs. However, Mominul Haque’s team lost 3 wickets for 6 runs on the fourth day after chasing the run.
Sadman was caught in the second ball of the second over of the innings by Simon Harmer. He could not open the run book. The left-arm opener was able to score only 9 runs in the first innings.
Keshav Maharaj hit a double in the fifth over of Bangladesh’s innings. Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who scored 4 runs, became bold when the gap of the bat-pad melted in the first ball. Captain Mominul (2) got leg-before visually while playing on the back foot in the fifth ball of the over.
Short score
South Africa first innings: 36/10 in 121 overs (Temba Babuma 93, Dean Elgar 6; Khaled Ahmed 4/92, Mehdi Miraj 3/94)
Bangladesh first innings: 298/10 in 115.5 overs (Mahmudul Hasan Joy 137, Liton Das 41, Nazmul Hossain Shant 38; Simon Harmer 4/103)
South Africa 2nd Innings: 204/10 in 64 overs (Dean Elgar 64, Ryan Rickerton 39 *; Ebadat Hossain 3/40, Mehdi Miraj 3/75)
Bangladesh 2nd innings: 53/10 in 19 overs (Shant 26, Taskin 14, Yasir 5, Joy 4, Sadman 0, Muminul 2, Mushfiqur 0, Liton 2, Miraj 0; Keshav Maharaj 6/32, Harmar 3/21).
Result: South Africa won by 220 runs.
Series: South Africa leads 1-0 in two-match series.