Rain halts Tigers vs Proteas day 2 Ctg Test

The Mushfiqur Rahim-led Tigers’ team trail by 70 runs with six wickets in hand against visiting South Africa's 248 runs in the first innings when the rain halted the first Test second day's play at 3:12 pm in their two-match National Polymer Test Cricket Series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here on Wednesday.
Bangladesh resumed their first innings with overnight score of 7 runs for no loss in 2 overs and at stumps on 178 runs for 4 in 66.3 overs, spurred by Mahmudullah's highest 67 runs, a news agency report said.
Skipper Mushfiq was on 16 runs off 44 balls with two fours and the only six of the innings while world number one all-rounder in all the three formats of cricket Shakib Al Hasan batting on without scoring any run as he faced just four balls.
Earlier, Bangladesh third pair for 89 runs in 31.4 overs between opener Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah pulled back the hosts from vulnerable state as they carried the team total to 144 for 3 in 53.3 overs from meager 55 for 2 in 21.5 overs, after the early loss of the tow top order batsmen Imrul Kayes and Mominul Haque.
Tamim Iqbal was bowled out for 57 runs of 129 balls with three fours by Dean Elgar.
World Cup hero Mahmudullah continued his composure with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim in the fourth wicket stand, but was trapped lbw by Vernon Philander at 178 for 4 in 66.1 overs.
Mahmudullah faced 138 balls to score the highest 67 runs involving 10 fours.
With this score, Tamim and Mahmudullah hit their 18th and 12th fifty-plus runs respectively in Test format.
Bangladesh trailed by 168 runs with 8 wickets in hand when the players trooped off for lunch at 11:30 am on the day.
Overnight Tamim Iqbal and number four batsman Mahmudullah were batting on scoring 30 and 12 runs respectively for the side.
Bangladesh reached the 100-run mark with a four hit by Mahmudullah off a Dale Steyn delvery in 36.2 overs.
Resuming the first innings on the second day, Bangladesh faced a jolt in 18.2 overs losing their opening batsman Imrul Kayes at team's 46 runs.
Overnight opening stand between Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes was departed by Stiaan van Zyl as Imrul Kayes who scored 26 runs off 73 balls with three fours and was caught by Quinton de Kock.
 

The Tigers dependable Test performer Mominul Haque failed to stay long with Tamim as he was bowled out by Simon Harmer for 6 runs, including a four facing 14 balls at 55 for 2 in 21.5 overs.
On day one (Tuesday) Mustafizur Rahman's esthetic four-for on Test debut for economic 37 runs and leg-break spin bowler Jubair Hossain's three-for restricted the visitors at 248 runs in 83.4 overs.
After the first-ever ODI series victory 2-1 against the Proteas, the ninth ranked in the ICC Test rankings Bangladesh look to carry their success to the longer version of cricket in the two-match Test series while the number one ranked South Africa side look to set their winning tone bouncing back.
Bangladesh now aim to improve their position on the table with a draw against top-ranked South Africa, a realistic target for Bangladesh, which will help close the gap on eighth ranked West Indies.
An upward trend is visible for Bangladesh in recent in the Test format, like in the shorter format, despite Bangladesh Test record is not very impressive.
Bangladesh won just seven of its previous 91 Tests, but among their 16 Tests since January 2013, Bangladesh won four, lost just six and drawn the rest.
During this period, it swept out Zimbabwe 3-0 and managed admirable draws against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Pakistan and India.
South Africa squad: Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla (captain), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Jean Paul Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Simon Harmer and Morne Morkel.
Bangladesh Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Liton Kumar Das, Jubair Hossain, Mohammad Shahid, Taijul Islam and  Mustafizur Rahman.