Tigers-Proteas 2nd Test from Thursday

Bangladesh will face South Africa in the second Test at Mirpur in Dhaka on Thursday. The match will kick off at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at 9:30am (Bangladesh Standard Time). On Monday, Bangladesh cricketers attended an indoor practice session at Mirpur and had a jog after the nets in the afternoon. Both South African and Bangladesh national teams returned to Dhaka from Chittagong on July 26, a day after the first Test was declared drawn after incessant rains washed away two consecutive days’ play in the five-day match at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in the port city.

Magnificent Mustafiz
Although the Test ended in a damp draw, Bangladesh's pace prodigy Mustafizur Rahman scaled new heights in his cricketing career by becoming the first player to be declared man of the match in debut two versions of the game – one-day international (ODI) and Test. The 19-year-old seamer set the world record on his debut by becoming the man-of-the-match in back-to-back ODI and Test, leaving South African batsmen spellbound at the end of Chittagong Test.
Mustafizur’s 4 for 37 helped the hosts bundle out the tourists for a mere 248 in the first innings. The prolific haul followed his ODI debut figures of 5 for 50 against India in Mirpur on June 18. Bangladesh then shone with the bat, scoring 326 with a combined performance that included three half-centuries and Shakib Al Hasan’s 47 before the rain forced a draw. Although it was fine team performance overall, 19-year old Mustafiz stood out as he tuned into the game’s prestigious format in style. Mustafiz, who starred in the India series last month, had bagged a record-breaking 13 wickets in his first three ODI matches. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim was confident that Mustafizur will be as successful in Tests as he was in ODIs. "He learns very fast. He has already realised that, to take wickets in Tests, he has to bowl well consistently and create pressure," he said after the match on Saturday.
One other player, however, has the distinction of becoming the Man-of-the-Match on his first international appearances in two formats – Bangladesh spinner Elias Sunny. He achieved the feat on his Test and Twenty20 international debuts. Sunny took 6 for 94 against West Indies on his Test debut at the same venue in 2011. He put up a stunning show in his maiden T20I match against Ireland, returning 5 for 13 in 4 overs to be adjudged best player in Belfast in 2012.
South Africa were sitting pretty on 136 for 1 on the first day when Taijul Islam and Shakib picked up two quick wickets to send back the well-set Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis. The teenager from Satkhira then struck by picking up three wickets in his 14th over, a feat that played a key role in restricting the tourists’ world-class batting line-up to under 250. After bowling three short spells without success earlier, Mustafizur came back in the attack after tea and ran through South Africa's middle-order but missed out on a debut hat-trick. He claimed the scalps of Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy and Quinton de Kock in four balls. That provided impetus to the team as legspinner Jubair Hossain grabbed three quick wickets, including two in an over. He returned in his fifth spell and took out their top-scorer and only half-centurion Temba Bavuma, as South Africa suffered a dramatic collapse, losing nine wickets for only 112 runs. The commanding show from the bowling unit hugely boosted the confidence of the batsmen, who matched the bowlers' resolve with gritty batting display to score 326 on the sluggish track.
The AB de Villiers-less Proteas were clearly dominated by Bangladesh until the lunch break on the third day. Then rain started washing out the next session’s play and eventually drowned out the last two days to force Bangladesh’s first-ever draw with the South Africans, according to a news agency.