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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Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque both scored single digits and fell in the first four overs of Bangladesh’s innings. This was the second time in as many days. The only difference was that on Tuesday afternoon, it was Kagiso Rabada’s turn to activate it, whereas Wiaan Mulder did on Monday morning. Bangladesh finished at 19 for 2 at tea on day two, with the mammoth first-innings deficit of 202 looking more tough to overcome. Rabada had plenty of speed and bounce from the new ball, and both of his wickets came from back-of-a-length deliveries.
In the third over, he nipped one at Shadman, who inside-edged for one to short leg, where Tony de Zorzi made a superb catch to his left. Three balls later, Mominul went defending but gave an outside edge to Mulder at third slip, who dove low to catch a dipping ball. However, Kyle Verreynne’s second Test century helped South Africa secure a 202-run lead. Verreynne swept virtually every ball he faced, but when he did miss one, Litton Das stumped him. South Africa’s innings concluded at 308 earlier in the afternoon.
However, by then, Verreynne had rushed to his century, giving South Africa a one-innings lead. Verreynne required just 144 balls to hit 114, becoming only the third wicketkeeper-batsman from his country to reach a Test century in Asia. Fittingly, Taijul Islam’s paddle sweep in the 86th over provided the benchmark. Verreynne’s sixes came after he passed the three-figure mark: one was a slog sweep off Nayeem Hasan, and the other was a pull from Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Just before that, Mehidy broke Bangladesh’s laborious ninth-wicket partnership of 66.
Dane Piedt batted steadily from No. 10, nudging and pushing his way to 32 before being caught in front on his 87th delivery. It turned in and was distributed on the field. Piedt examined and returned the umpire’s call. Mehidy slowed the ball shortly after Verreynne’s second six, beating the same batter and stumping him. Earlier, Verreynne and Mulder combined 119 for the seventh wicket as South Africa concluded day one on 108 for 6. On the second morning, the surface appeared to have settled perfectly for batting, with little obvious turn for Taijul, a left-arm spinner.
Verreynne seemed especially confident against Hasan Mahmud, who had started the day with Taijul, pushing the pacer beyond mid-on for three in the second over before clipping and driving him for boundaries two overs later. Taijul then had Mulder poke, but the outer edge fell short of slipping. Mulder’s delicate hands and the surface’s slowness both contributed to this. Mulder and Verreynne adjusted to the pitch and performed admirably against Taijul and Nayeem. Despite Nayeem’s tendency to turn the ball in, both hitters employed sweeps and reverse sweeps well.
That was due to their taking a solid step forward to reach the pitch of the deliveries and, once there, confidently putting the ball away. On the second morning, the pair played the sweep or reverse sweep off 38 deliveries against Taijul, Nayeem, and Mehidy, scoring 59 runs, including seven boundaries and one six. Bangladesh had a player close in at square leg to prevent the hitters from scoring easy singles off the sweep, but Verreynne reached fifty when he smashed one to the man there.Mulder scored his first Test half-century at the start of the 64th over, cutting Nayeem for four behind point.
Only in the previous over had Najmul Hossain Shanto brought Mahmud back into the assault, and Mahmud struck twice in the next over. First, he pitched on a back of a length outside off, keeping the ball on its line. Mulder attempted a blow but slipped wide on 54. The following delivery, Mahmud went significantly fuller, turning the ball into Keshav Maharaj and beating his defense to uproot off stump. However, No. 10 Piedt denied Mahmud a hat-trick before irritating Bangladesh with his hard blocks, ensuring Verreynne’s faith while on his path to a century.
