Watch cricket video highlights of South Africa tour of Bangladesh 2024. First test between Bangladesh and South Africa. Venue of the match will be Mirpur.
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The third day of play in the Dhaka Test was halted at 4pm local time, an hour before the planned finish of the day, due to poor lighting. Bangladesh rallied back in the game and presently leads by 81 runs, with South Africa still needing three wickets. The hosts finished the day on 283 for 7, thanks mostly to half-centuries from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and debutant Jaker Ali. After 17 minutes of play under floodlights at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, the game was called off at 3.17pm. There was a 78-minute halt due to rain beginning at 1.42pm.
This is unusual rain in Bangladesh owing to a depression in the Bay of Bengal that is expected to develop into a cyclone on Wednesday. Mehidy was Bangladesh’s saviour on the day, scoring his fourth half-century this year and rescuing the team’s blushes from a bad situation. They were 112 for 6, after which Mehidy and Jaker contributed 138 runs for the seventh wicket. This is Bangladesh’s third century from the seventh wicket in the past five Tests. Mehidy hit nine fours and a six in his 171-ball stay on the third day, batting comfortably enough to inspire Jaker, who had just two runs in the first innings.
However, Bangladesh’s day began disastrously, with three wickets lost in the first 30 minutes of play, leaving them with just one Test to rescue. By the fourth over of the day, Kagiso Rabada had dismissed both Bangladesh’s overnight batsmen, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mushfiqur Rahim. Mahmudul edged a wide one, allowing first slip an easy catch after reaching 40. Rabada then removed Mushfiqur’s middle stump later in the over with a ball identical to his removal of the same player in the first innings; although Mushfiqur lost two stumps on the first day, this time the middle pole came off.
When Litton Das was caught behind by Keshav Maharaj shortly after, Bangladesh fell to 112 for 6, putting themselves in risk of losing an innings on the third day. Mehidy and Jaker then took over, struggling through a difficult opening session and enabling Bangladesh overcome South Africa’s 202-run first-innings advantage. Jaker, who played second fiddle to Mehidy, hit the ball cleanly past the covers. He also snatched two fours via excellent leg, one of which brought him to fifty. Jaker smashed Rabada with a confident pull shot. He also took three fours from Rabada, twice via the off side and once with a pull.
Meanwhile, Mehidy was primarily effective against Maharaj, hitting him for four boundaries through the covers – occasionally lofted, but generally along the ground. He mainly handled spin effectively, and Bangladesh came within one run of South Africa’s lead at lunch. Rain forced a 78-minute break in the second session. Jaker scored his first Test fifty just before the rain break. He went lbw to Maharaj after being beaten while attempting to turn the ball to the leg side. The umpire gave it out despite the visitors’ casual appeal, but replays revealed it was the correct judgment. Jaker hit seven fours throughout his 111-ball stint.
