Shakib pegs Proteas back
Friday, 28 November 2008
Bangladesh's spirited performance continued on the second day at Centurion Park as they caused South Africa plenty of problems on a pitch offering help for seamers and spinners. Shakib Al Hasan followed his impressive effort from the first Test with three key middle-order scalps, to back-up the strong work of the seamers, as South Africa reached tea on 192 for 5, still 58 behind, reports Cricinfo.
None of the South Africa batsman managed to dominate, while Jacques Kallis laboured especially hard for his 24 before becoming Shakib's first wicket when the ball deflected from pad onto off stump. Hashim Amla produced the most fluent display, but his 71 was ended with a thin bat-pad catch to silly point and two balls later AB de Villiers had a hot-headed charge. The ball spun sharply past the edge with Mushfiqur Rahim completing a smooth stumping. For de Villiers it gave him a world record, having waiting 79 innings to collect his first zero in Tests.
After a morale-boosting opening day, Bangladesh managed to punch above their weight for two more sessions, but the key is maintaining the pressure. After Shakib's burst of three wickets, Bangladesh drifted slightly as Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher steadied the innings. They had to combat a testing spell of reverse swing from Mahbubul Alam, but were quick to dispatch any loose deliveries, adding an unbroken 58 to ease the tension.
Both Mahbubul and Mashrafe Mortaza kept the ball pitched up during the morning session as they searched for swing, which meant they leaked a few boundaries but also scooted past the outside edge on a number of occasions. The batsmen always had to be wary and Graeme Smith was trapped by a delivery from Mahbubul that pitched in line and straightened. Smith wasn't happy with the decision - the height was an issue - but it was no means a shocker from the umpire.
However, the most intriguing battle of the morning was between Bangladesh's seamers and Kallis, who was left prodding and poking at the swinging ball. There were signs in the one-dayers that Kallis had regained some touch after a poor tour of England, but here looked woefully short of form. Mahbubul thought he had him caught behind on 2 when a perfect outswinger zipped past the edge, but although Kallis survived he was never comfortable. He is usually a good judge of what to play, but more than once he was left probing at deliveries and was unsure of where his off stump was.
South Africa 357/5 at 10pm.
None of the South Africa batsman managed to dominate, while Jacques Kallis laboured especially hard for his 24 before becoming Shakib's first wicket when the ball deflected from pad onto off stump. Hashim Amla produced the most fluent display, but his 71 was ended with a thin bat-pad catch to silly point and two balls later AB de Villiers had a hot-headed charge. The ball spun sharply past the edge with Mushfiqur Rahim completing a smooth stumping. For de Villiers it gave him a world record, having waiting 79 innings to collect his first zero in Tests.
After a morale-boosting opening day, Bangladesh managed to punch above their weight for two more sessions, but the key is maintaining the pressure. After Shakib's burst of three wickets, Bangladesh drifted slightly as Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher steadied the innings. They had to combat a testing spell of reverse swing from Mahbubul Alam, but were quick to dispatch any loose deliveries, adding an unbroken 58 to ease the tension.
Both Mahbubul and Mashrafe Mortaza kept the ball pitched up during the morning session as they searched for swing, which meant they leaked a few boundaries but also scooted past the outside edge on a number of occasions. The batsmen always had to be wary and Graeme Smith was trapped by a delivery from Mahbubul that pitched in line and straightened. Smith wasn't happy with the decision - the height was an issue - but it was no means a shocker from the umpire.
However, the most intriguing battle of the morning was between Bangladesh's seamers and Kallis, who was left prodding and poking at the swinging ball. There were signs in the one-dayers that Kallis had regained some touch after a poor tour of England, but here looked woefully short of form. Mahbubul thought he had him caught behind on 2 when a perfect outswinger zipped past the edge, but although Kallis survived he was never comfortable. He is usually a good judge of what to play, but more than once he was left probing at deliveries and was unsure of where his off stump was.
South Africa 357/5 at 10pm.