da pinnacle： Bangladesh fought back after being dismissed for 192, reducing South Africa to 76 for 4 at the end of the first day in Mirpur
da luck： The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran22-Feb-2008
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Morne Morkel was the pick of the South African bowlers © Getty Images
Mornè Morkel, with a five-for in his second Test, and Dale Steyn were thedestroyers as Bangladesh were knocked over for 192 soon after tea on theopening day, but a stirring fightback inspired by Shahadat Hossain andMohammad Rafique left the match intriguing poised when play was called offwith eight overs still to be bowled. By then, South Africa had stumbled to76 for 4, with Ashwell Prince and Johan Botha holding fort on a pitch thatwas already showing signs of misbehaving.The key wicket, as is so often the case when South Africa play, was thatof Jacques Kallis. Having repeatedly exposed his stumps to the probing left-armspin of Rafique, he had no answer when one turned and kept appallinglylow. At one stage, with Hashim Amla and Kallis adding 35, it looked asthough South Africa had overcome the early Shahadat-induced wobble, butRafique accounted for Amla as well, trapping him plumb in front with onethat came in with the arm.Graeme Smith had inside-edged one on to his leg stump and Neil McKenzie, openingin place of the dropped Herschelle Gibbs, was rapped in front by one thatangled back in. Shahadat bowled an inspired spell, and could have hadKallis as well, but a muted appeal when the ball struck pad before batdidn’t quite convince the umpire.The batting debacle took the sheen off a superb bowling display from SouthAfrica’s callow pace bowlers. Steyn, so devastating during the homeseason, dealt the first blows. Spot on with his first ball of the match,the second looped back to his left after Tamim Iqbal had inside edged onto his pad. Steyn reacted smartly on his follow through to hold on.In his next over, more success, as Junaid Siddique hung his bat out at onethat slanted across him, and Mark Boucher dived across Smith at first slip tohold on to the catch. More uncomfortable moments followed, with Makhaya Ntini andSteyn testing the batsmen with short deliveries, but Shahriar Nafees gavethe crowd some solace with a crisp pull and square-drive off Steyn.Habibul Bashar pulled Ntini for a boundary, but looked out of sortsotherwise, and the introduction of Morkel sent him speedily in thedirection of the pavilion. Considering that he’s a former captain and themost senior batsman in the side, it was a wretched shot, a nothing waftoutside off stump, and McKenzie held a low chance in front of him at awide third slip.Stodgy defiance hasn’t been a characteristic of Bangladeshi batting inrecent times, and Mohammad Ashraful’s approach when he arrived at thecrease was indicative of a cavalier mindset. An edge for four got himgoing, and when Morkel then pitched too full, he clipped one effortlesslythrough midwicket for four.Ntini has seldom been a factor on subcontinent pitches, and Ashrafulcapitalised on his more predictable offerings with a superb square-driveand a meaty pull. At the other end, Nafees was alternately watchful andattacking before Morkel turned out to be too good for him.A full delivery was driven superbly through the covers, but the next ballangled across and deviated away. The hesitant push flew to Smith, andSouth Africa had four wickets for just 60. Ashraful continued undaunted,lacing a couple of lovely drives, but Botha’s introduction on the strokeof lunch proved a masterstroke.
Aftab Ahmed was the top-scorer for Bangladesh with a patient 44 © Getty Images
Ashraful drove and cut for fours before impetuously whacking a lofteddelivery straight back to the bowler. That left Bangladesh in disarray at82 for 5, with Aftab Ahmad and Shakib Al Hasan having to shoulder thepost-lunch burden.They did so for well over an hour, with a combination of pluck and luck.Shakib started with a gorgeous straight drive off Ntini, and followed upwith two more crisp strokes through the off side. There were hints ofinexperience too, though, with an ill-judged paddle sweep off Botha barelymissing the stumps off the inside edge.Aftab had eschewed his normal flamboyance to knuckle down, but as thesession wore on, the frustration became palpable. Something had to give,and it did with Aftab playing an appalling shot to Botha after having gotto 44. Ntini took the catch at mid-off, and South Africa soon had muchmore to celebrate.His departure appeared to upset Shakib’s composure too, and when Morkelangled one across, he edged to a wide second slip where AB de Villiersheld on to a sharp chance. Rafique lasted just one ball, with SteveBucknor taking an age to raise the finger after a thick inside edge on tothe pad. Crucially though, Mashrafe Mortaza, with a breezy 29, andMushfiqur Rahim added 40 for the ninth wicket before Morkel and Steynreturned to scatter stumps.At that stage, it was very much South Africa’s day, but the 24 oversbefore stumps suggested that repeating their success in Pakistan lastOctober may not be so straightforward after all.
