Proteas’ spin twins strike in dramatic late burst

A triple strike with the new ball by Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer rocked Bangladesh as they slipped to 11 for three chasing 274 for victory on the fourth day of the first Betway test at Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday.

It was a dramatic end to a topsy-turvy day in front of 1 800 spectators in which the visitors did particularly well to bowl out South Africa for 204 in their second innings. When openers Mahmudul Joy and Shadman Islam went out to bat at 4.55pm CAT (SA, GMT+2) with a potential 27 overs left before the close plus a further 98 on Monday, they would have felt their team were well in the match.

Twenty minutes and six overs later, Bangladesh were in disarray with the odds now firmly in South Africa’s favour with their opponents needing a further 263 to win with seven wickets in hand.

When Bangladesh batted, umpires Marais Erasmus and Adrian Holdstock told South Africa’s captain, Dean Elgar, that the light was unsuitable for pace, so Maharaj and Harmer opened the bowling. After Maharaj had bowled the first over from the Old Fort end, Harmer struck with his second ball, finding the edge of left-hander Shadman Islam’s forward push with Keegan Petersen taking a sharp catch at slip.

Maharaj’s turn soon came and it was the vital scalp of first-innings centurion Joy who played for non-existent turn, the ball sneaking through the gap between bat and pad and knocking back his leg stump. The left-arm spinner, who had bowled well but gone wicketless in the Bangladesh first innings, was clearly fired up as he celebrated the wicket.

If anything, his joy was even more fiercely expressed four balls later when Mominul Haque somehow got his bat caught up in his pad as went back to defend, the ball going on to trap him plumb leg before.

That made a shellshocked Bangladesh 8 for three in 4.5 overs and seven balls later the umpires called the players off for bad light.

It was a happy ending for South Africa on a day when the tourists had much the better of things after lunch.

The rub of the green had gone the Proteas’ way in the first session, with Dean Elgar striking his second half-century of the match to lead the home team to 105 for one, an overall lead of 174. The left-hander once again played positively but was fortunate to be dropped twice on 34 and 43.

On the first occasion, he drove hard at offspinner Mehedy Miraz and edged to first slip where Nazmul Shanto dropped a sharp chance at head height. His second let off was off Ebadot Hossein – an easier opportunity this time – as Yasir Ali at slip dropped a chance that flew just over his head.

Keegan Petersen also enjoyed a piece of luck on 14 when he survived a leg-before shout off Khaled Ahmed, but the visitors mistakenly declined to review the decision.

BANGLADESH BOUNCING BACK

If the main topic of conversation in the South African dressing-room at lunch concerned when to declare, that soon changed in the afternoon as Bangladesh bounced back, grabbing four wickets for just 52 runs in a dominant afternoon session for the tourists as they reduced South Africa to 157 for five at tea.

The first to go was Elgar, who was leg before to Taskin Ahmed for an excellent 64 in 102 balls. Initially, Elgar was pronounced not out, but replays showed he was plumb – one of eight referrals that were overturned in the innings. His dismissal ended a valuable partnership of 68 in 114 balls with Petersen for the second wicket, the only one worth more than 50 in the innings.

Five overs later, Petersen followed him, planting a seemingly inoffensive Mehidy delivery into the hands of short leg. It was a soft dismissal and a disconsolate Petersen (36) looked suitably unhappy with himself.

The highlight of the afternoon, however, was Yasir Ali’s cool piece of brilliance to send Temba Bavuma on his way. Ebadot, bowling with plenty of gas, found the outside edge of Bavuma’s defensive prod and the ball flew low and to the left of Ali at first slip. The burly fielder stretched down with his left hand, as if to pick a flower he fancied, and scooped up the ball millimetres from the ground. There followed a gentle half-somersault and a nonchalant throw of the ball into the air as he emerged on his feet again.

Kyle Verreynne then became Mehidi’s second victim when he tried to reverse-sweep a delivery, succeeding only in popping the ball up to Shadman Islam at silly mid-off.

The momentum continued to go Bangladesh’s way in the final session with two runouts hastening the end of the innings. Only Ryan Rickelton, unbeaten on 39 (89 balls, 4x4s), helped his team to their total of 204, at least 50 fewer than they would have wanted.

For Bangladesh, offspinner Mehidi did a sterling job, claiming 3-85 off 35 overs while paceman Ebadat Hossain was consistently hostile, finishing with 3-40 off 13 overs. Taskin Ahmed, despite having an apparent shoulder injury, managed 11 overs and the wickets of Elgar and Maharaj.

Report Day 1
Report Day 2
Report Day 3

SOUTH AFRICA: Dean Elgar (capt), Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Temba Bavuma, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, Lizaad Williams, Duanne Olivier

BANGLADESH: Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mominul Haque (capt), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das (wk), Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain