Bangladesh v South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 1 - The Proteas trigger a Bangladesh collapse

Mominul Haque and Imrul Kayes while Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim were able to arrest a collapse when the South African bowlers scripted breakthroughs. But as soon as Mushfiq departed, Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan failed to stitch another inspiring partnership to arrest the collapse. Shakib’s dismissal was due to an absolute ripper of a delivery from Morne Morkel  while Liton played an unnecessary stroke during a crucial stage of play when resolve was the order of the day rather than rush of blood.

The South Africans plan to persist with the old ball even when the new ball was available, paid rich dividends. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel’s spell with the older ball at the closing stages of day one was bone-chilling. Steyn reversed the ball at pace and made it to come back into the batsmen consistently while Morkel made the cherry to bounce well enough even in this slow and low track. It’s not an easy task to encounter such sort of pace bowling, but still, it was not an impossible task: patience was the key.

After watching Steyn to reverse the ball, I felt the absence of Rubel Hossain big time. At present, Rubel is in good form and his pace would have been beneficial for the Tigers and again, he has the ability to reverse the ball. I am still not sure why doesn’t he get picked in the Test team!

Mushfiqur Rahim has overcome his lean patch. There were problems regarding his back lift and foot work and moreover, his tendency of playing the ball too early invited the lean patch. But Mushfiq is a keen learner of the game and for which the lean patches will not be permanent in his career.

Today, he played the ball late and his footwork was astute against the spinners. Above all, Mushfiq’s nag to spend more time at the crease helped him well to get back into his groove. He was cautious against the likes of Steyn, Morkel and Philander and cashed in big time against Harmer. Mushfiq’s flicks against Morkel and Steyn were delicate to watch and it was the result of playing the ball late.

It’s a tricky Mirpur track and Bangladesh have the bowlers to test the South African batsmen.  In my opinion, things will not be that easier for the Proteas batters as well.

Nasir Hossain is still out there. It’s a great opportunity for him to justify his selection. It will be interesting to see how he marshalls the tail-enders tomorrow. Bangladesh needs to add more to this total. A score of 300 and more will be competitive enough.

Lastly, congrats Dale Steyn for the 400th Test wicket.

Thank You
Faisal Caesar