Ken Borland

South Africa may have collapsed to just 204 all out in their second innings, but the 69-run lead they had in the kitty has left Bangladesh with a stiff target to chase and the tourists’ batsmen will find no shelter from the Kingsmead pitch either as there is sharp turn on offer and the seamers are also posing challenges in the first Test in Durban.

Needing 274 for victory, Bangladesh had crashed to 11/3 at stumps on the fourth day on Sunday, as Proteas spinners Keshav Maharaj (3-0-7-2) and Simon Harmer (3-1-4-1) caused devastation to the top-order.

South Africa’s batting coach Justin Sammons unpacked the challenges their batsmen faced on Sunday, with conditions likely to only get tougher on Monday’s final day.

“The ball is gripping and it has turned more as the game as gone on. Against seam, the scoring rate is tough to get up if the bowlers hit those probing lengths, hitting straight is not going to give you much reward,” Sammons said.

“And there’s a bit of reverse swing on offer as well, which makes it really tricky. Bangladesh, with the lengths they hit, showed their skill and their ability to make the ball tail towards the end as well.

“Spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled with great discipline and control as well. So we had to bat really well to get to 204.

“But if you dig in then it’s not the sort of pitch you will get blasted out on,” Sammons said.

Although the fading light prevented South Africa from using their pace bowlers with the new ball at the start of the Bangladesh innings, it will be interesting to see if the Proteas go with the successful Maharaj/Harmer combination first thing on Monday morning, or give Lizaad Williams and Duanne Olivier a burst with the shiny ball.

Sammons said there had been some talk about starting with one seamer and one spinner on Sunday afternoon.

Maharaj’s two wickets saw him go past fellow left-hander Paul Adams as the leading wicket-taker among South African spinners post-isolation, with 136 in 41 Tests at an average of 32.93.

Captain Dean Elgar again anchored South Africa’s batting effort as he completed half-centuries in both innings, with his 64 providing a great platform for the innings.

He and Keegan Petersen (36) combined for a 68-run second-wicket partnership, the biggest of the innings, while debutant Ryan Rickelton showed good composure under pressure as he scored 39 not out while wickets tumbled at the other end.

Offie Mehidy (35-6-85-3) and fast bowler Ebadot Hossain (13-1-40-3) combined most effectively with the ball for Bangladesh. Taskin Ahmed, who had to periodically go off the field to have a shoulder injury treated, chipped in manfully with 2/24 in 11 overs.

The umpires insisting that South Africa only use slow bowlers at the start of the Bangladesh second innings due to bad light turned out to be a most welcome development as Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer sent the tourists crashing to 11/3 on the fourth day of the first Test at Kingsmead on Sunday.

Bangladesh are chasing 274 for victory after the Proteas crashed from 116/1 to 204 all out, but the spinners have done terrible damage to their cause. There were some mutters about the South African quicks not being able to use the new ball as late afternoon sun shone brightly over the pitch, but only six overs were able to be bowled anyway before bad light was declared.

Harmer made the first incision when he removed Shadman Islam (0) with his second ball, Keegan Petersen taking a sharp catch at slip, and then Maharaj struck two devastating blows in the fifth over.

First-innings centurion Mahmudul Hasan Joy (4) played down the wrong line and was late in closing the gate as Maharaj speared a delivery into his stumps, and four balls later, captain Mominul Haque (2) got into an awful tangle trying to play the left-arm spinner off the back foot. The left-handed batsman actually got his bat stuck behind his left leg as the ball turned into his right pad and he was given out lbw.

South Africa’s innings was a wobbly affair as they resumed on 6/0 with a 69-run first-innings lead.

Openers Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee (8) survived a testing first hour and put on 48 for the first wicket before Erwee was trapped lbw by the fast bowler Ebadot Hossain, jagging the ball back into the left-hander.

Elgar and Keegan Petersen added a further 68 for the second wicket and South Africa had built a wonderful platform when they reached 116/1. But Taskin Ahmed, who was struggling with a shoulder injury, trapped Elgar lbw in similar fashion on 64, and Petersen (36) fell to spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz soon afterwards, a lack of pace off the pitch may have been why he gave short-leg a catch.

Amazing catches by Yasir Ali at slip and Shadman Islam at silly point accounted for Temba Bavuma (4) and Kyle Verreynne (6) and gave Ebadot and Mehidy another wicket each.

Although Ryan Rickelton scored a well-disciplined 39 not out, the rest of the batting fell away, including two runs outs. Substitute Nurul Hasan’s direct hit from the cover boundary to catch Simon Harmer (11) short was also a wonderful piece of fielding.

Mehidy took 3/85 in 35 overs, while the feisty Ebadot finished with 3/40 in 13 overs.

South Africa aren’t fielding their usual sort of bowling attack against Bangladesh in the first Test at Kingsmead in Durban, with debutant Lizaad Williams one of just two frontline pacemen alongside Duanne Olivier.

Even at domestic level, one would very seldom see a team fielding just two specialist pace bowlers.

So it’s all a bit of a strange experience for Williams, the 28-year-old playing in his first Test after a journeyman career that has taken off spectacularly since his move to the Titans in 2020.

But he has adapted well and he finished his first innings as a Test bowler with impressive figures of 3/54 in 18.5 overs as Bangladesh were bowled out for 298 on the third day. That gave the Proteas a 69-run first-innings lead, which they extended to 75 by reaching 6/0 in the four overs possible before bad light and rain stopped play.

“We’re two different kinds of bowlers, Duanne gets more bounce while I just try and hit the pitch six-to-seven metres out and the ball squats a bit,” Williams said on Saturday.

“That combination worked well for us but we could have bowled even better. I must say, it is a bit of a weird pitch, both new balls seemed to do a bit less, which is not normal and I don’t know why.

“But in Test cricket not everything is going to be in your favour, but I do still think this is a result pitch.

“I was very delighted to get my first wicket. It was always my dream to play Test cricket, growing up, it was always what I was working towards. It’s your most difficult format and to be able to contribute to my team was great,” Williams said.

Lithe and athletic, with a straight-lines action and the ability to zip the ball around at good pace, the 5’10 Williams certainly has the fast bowling gene. He is slippery, consistently touching the 140km/h mark, and he has the confidence of fine form in domestic cricket to bolster him.

A graduate of the University of the Western Cape, having been schooled at Weston Secondary School and Hugenote Hoerskool, he was born in Vredenburg on October 1, 1993. Having played for Boland Schools for three years, his talent was obvious and he was capped for SA Schools in 2010, from where he made the SA U19 team in 2011 and 2012, also playing in the Junior World Cup.

When you post 367 in your first innings and then reduce the opposition to 101 for five and your spinners have been as dominant as South Africa’s were, there is bound to be some disappointment when your lead is whittled down to just 75 by the end of the day, but that’s what happened to the Proteas on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead on Saturday.

Thanks to the epic defiance of opening batsman Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who was last man out for 137 made in 442 minutes off 326 balls, Bangladesh made it all the way to 298 all out.

It meant South Africa still emerged with a handy lead of 69, which openers Sarel Erwee and Dean Elgar extended to 75 as they reached six without loss in the four overs of their second innings that were possible before bad light and rain stopped play at 4.10pm.

But it could have been so much more with better bowling and catching. Most crucially, Liton Das was dropped on 16, a straightforward chance to Dean Elgar at first slip off Lizaad Williams, and he went on to score 41 and share an 82-run partnership with Joy that lifted Bangladesh from 101 for five to 183 for six.

There were three other half-chances that went down too through the innings, and South Africa, who were able to take the second new ball in the second over after lunch with Bangladesh on 186 for six, will be disappointed by how Williams and Duanne Olivier lost the lengths that they had been bowling earlier.

Williams had bowled Liton in the 79^th over with a beautiful delivery with the old ball that nipped back sharply, but Joy and Yasir Ali were flourishing against the new ball, having added 33 when Yasir fell for 22 to a car-crash of a run out.

But Bangladesh’s next partnership between Joy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz was smoothly underway as they added 51 for the eighth wicket before Wiaan Mulder had Mehidy caught at slip for 29.

Joy then accelerated, quickly cutting the deficit from exactly 100 to 69 as he struck 27 runs off his next 17 deliveries with five fours and a six.

But the promising Williams ended his fun by having him caught at slip, to finish with three for 54 in 18.5 overs in his debut Test.

Simon Harmer failed to add to his wicket-tally of the previous day, finishing with four for 103 in 40 overs as the Bangladesh batsmen showed much more intent against him and Keshav Maharaj on Saturday.