Bangladesh vs South Africa 1st Test: What is Waiting for the Teams?

Cricket fans, especially Bangladeshi cricket fans, already know their favorite team’s cricketing journey has been a roller coaster ride for the last few months. While their performance was impressive in Pakistan, the expectations increased with the one with India. However, the series ended like a nightmare for the Bangladesh Tigers, and the fans and experts censured the players. 

While these two series were abroad, the scheduled one with South Africa is arranged at home. This time, the fans expected a bounce back from the players since Bangladesh cricketers historically perform dominantly at home, especially in Mirpur. However, the expectations don’t always get reflected in reality, and Bangladesh cricketers understood that already! Yet, at the end of the second day of the first test match, chances remained for both teams to end this with a win! 

Let’s see how things went on from the beginning and predict what can happen next! 

Controversial Issues Before the Beginning of the Match 

After the fall of the previous government through the movement of students and general citizens of the country, reconstruction is being observed everywhere in Bangladesh. The changes were seen in the cricket board too. Yet, things were not that much abnormal as Bangladesh played with Pakistan immediately after that. 

However, the controversy started when Shakib Al Hasan, the legendary Bangladeshi allrounder, announced his retirement from T20 Cricket and expressed his desire to play the last Test Match of his career at Mirpur with South Africa. 

There were two groups created among fans. One group wanted Shakib in Mirpur to play with dignity, and another one protested that since Shakib was a member of the parliament of the last government and didn’t protest the inhuman activities of that government! Just before the day of the test match, the situation worsened, which could negatively affect the cricketers. However, Shakib didn’t come to play his last test match, considering the problem, and Bangladesh’s final eleven was selected, excluding him. 

SA vs Ban Test Match Set Up

The pitch of Mirpur is historically spin-friendly, and everyone knows this. While South Africa sent their regular squad of pacers, Hasan Mahmud was the only pacer in the Bangladesh team. Yet, Shakib’s absence was felt since his record in Mirpur, especially with bowl, is one of the best! 

However, captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto was lucky to win the toss and decided to bat first. The team probably considered that the pitch would become more difficult for the batters with time. 

1^st Day:  The Unexpected Beginning of Bangladesh Batters

A true fan of Bangladesh cricket always worries about the top-order batters since this team has yet to get consistent run scorers in these positions. The quick dismissal of opener Sadman Islam without scoring any runs proved that again! Even Mominul, one of the most successful batters of Bangladesh in test cricket, failed to score a good run and went for four runs. 

When the collapse was inevitable, veterans like Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das failed to recover from the damage. While Mahmudul Joy struggled at one end, the South African bowlers celebrated wickets regularly. Apart from Joy, no batters could cross the run landmark, and only three players could reach the double-digits.  

Interestingly, South Africa used only four bowlers to take all of Bangladesh’s wickets! Rabada, Mulder, and Maharaj each took three wickets, while Dane took one within five overs. With the tremendous bowling display against which Bangladeshi batters surrendered, South Africa restricted the opponents to only 106 runs. 

In response, South Africa started their batting, though they probably didn’t think of coming for batting so early! However, Hasan Mahmud, the only pacer of Bangladesh, took the vital wicket of Aiden Markram early, and within fifty runs, South Africa lost two of its wickets. 

Though South African batters could score runs, they also lost wickets. At the end of the first day, they scored 140 after losing six wickets. 

2^nd Day: A Hope to Come Back by Bangladesh

No, the Bangladesh team’s confidence earlier was not reflected. However, Taijul Islam, the experienced spinner of the home side, took the lead and continued attacking the batters.  

On the other hand, the South African batters were confidently playing the deliveries from the morning. After scoring a magnificent century, Kyle Verreyne got stamped by Liton Das in a beautiful delivery of Miraz. Mulder also sacrificed his wicket in a delivery of Hasan Mahmud after scoring a half-century. While other South African batters were not very impressive with the bat, small contributions were consistently coming, all of which ended with a score of 308, a massive one considering the pitch condition and the Bangladesh team’s first innings! 

Approximately thirty overs remained for the day when Bangladesh came to bat for their second innings. Mahmudul Hasan Joy showed his sensibility in shot selection from the beginning, but Sadman Islam failed to score runs again and went for one. Expectations from Mominul again went in vain with his consecutive failure as he went for a duck this time! After scoring 23 runs, captain Shanto couldn’t longer his innings either. On the other hand, Mahmudul Joy was solid with his bat. Mushfiqur Rahim didn’t make any mistakes on the second day, too! 

Before the play stopped for the day, Mahmudul Joy was not out with 38 runs, and Mushfiqur also remained unbeaten with a score of 31 runs. Bangladesh is trailed by 101 runs still! 

What Could Happen Next

Many thought that Bangladesh would lose most of its wickets, though this didn’t happen. Reliable players are still in the crease. Batters like Liton Das, Mehedi Mirza, and Jaker Ali have yet to come to the crease. 

This test seems to be a “Result Must” match since three days remain while over half of the game has already been played. Both teams have time. It’s a mammoth task for the Bangladeshi batters, but it’s not impossible to give South Africa a reasonable target, which their bowlers can defend!  

Whatever happens, the morning session of the third day is vital because Mushfiqur and Joy need to carry their innings for long. Bangladesh must bat for the whole third day and score runs on the board. Let’s see how things go and how this test match ends!