Ken Borland

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.

With the surprise windfall of the CSA 4-Day Series title beckoning, the Northerns Titans may yet pay a heavy price for dropping four catches in the space of four overs bowled by ace off-spinner Simon Harmer on the third day of their match against the Central Gauteng Lions at Centurion on Sunday.

With a massive first-innings lead of 212 secured thanks to Theunis de Bruyn’s commanding 143, Northerns had reduced the Lions to a parlous 46/4 in their second innings, still 166 behind. But Reeza Hendricks and Mitchell van Buuren were then dropped twice each close to the bat off Harmer. De Bruyn missed both batsmen at slip, and Gihahn Cloete also gave them each a life at short-leg. Both fielders would have felt one of their misses was a half-chance.

But not getting them out then nevertheless proved extremely costly for the Titans, as Hendricks (73*) and Van Buuren (31*) batted the Lions through to stumps on 130/4 with an unbeaten stand of 84.

Lizaad Williams was outstanding with the new ball for Northerns, taking 2/5 in 11 overs that included six maidens.

With the Eastern Province Warriors unable to get on the field in Bloemfontein due to rain, Northerns gave themselves a great chance of stealing the four-day crown as they piled up 482 in their first innings.

The innings was built around De Bruyn’s epic six-hour knock, in which he faced 228 balls and played numerous great strokes to collect 14 fours and four sixes.

The Titans resumed the third day on 261/3 and there was solid batting all the way down the order with Sibonelo Makhanya scoring 35, Cloete 34, Jiveshan Pillay 21 and Aya Gqamane 17. But Corbin Bosch rather stole the show in the afternoon as he lashed a fiery 57 off just 65 balls.

Paceman Codi Yusuf put in an impressive, skilful effort with the ball, taking 5/91 in 28.5 overs.

From a Warriors point of view, it was a great pity that no play was possible on the third day of their match against the Free State Knights, with Eastern Province stranded on 166/3 in reply to the hosts’ first innings of 227.

Eastern Province already have more points (116.14) on the log than either the Lions (115.70) or Titans (113.56), but with Northerns eyeing victory at Centurion, the Warriors may need to pit themselves against the Knights in some sort of limited-overs contest within the match on the final day if they are to win the title.

In the other matches, a top-class 198 not out by opener Pieter Malan has led the Boland Rocks to 389/7 in reply to the KZN Dolphins’ total of 422, with a draw beckoning in Paarl.

At Newlands, it was a productive day for Western Province spinners George Linde (29-8-69-5) and Kyle Simmonds (14-5-24-4) as they bowled North-West out for 202 and enforced the follow-on.

North-West were 175/6 in their second innings at stumps, still facing a deficit of 199 runs. A pair of half-centuries by Wesley Marshall (58) and Senuran Muthusamy (67*) was keeping them barely afloat. Linde and Simmonds have each picked up another wicket.

Muthusamy also scored 53 in the North-West first innings, sharing a partnership of 58 for the fourth wicket with opener Lesego Senokwane (66), the biggest of the innings.

Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder were the last two bollards standing between New Zealand and the tail as South Africa closed the third day of the second Test on 140/5, a lead of 211, at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Sunday.

Having gained a handy 71-run first-innings lead, the Proteas second innings was an uphill struggle, with Neil Wagner’s two afternoon strikes reducing them to 114/5. But the inexperienced pairing of Verreynne (22*) and Mulder (10*) then batted with determination as they posted an unbeaten stand of 26 to take South Africa to stumps.

Frustratingly for the visitors, Wagner’s two victims, Rassie van der Dussen (45) and Temba Bavuma (23), were both soft dismissals.

Van der Dussen had survived a torrid time before tea but was looking increasingly solid when left-armer Wagner turned to his trademark short-pitched strategy. Van der Dussen took just about everything on, was dropped at square-leg by Colin de Grandhomme on 40, and then tried to pull out of a hook shot, only to send a return catch back to the bowler.

Bavuma was well set and looked as likely a candidate as anyone to play a matchwinning innings, but then drove Wagner straight to cover.

Tim Southee had earlier removed both openers, Sarel Erwee (8) and Dean Elgar (13) with quality swing and seam bowling, while Aiden Markram once again looked good in scoring 14 before being bowled by an excellent yorker from Matt Henry.

New Zealand had begun the day on 157/5, with Daryl Mitchell and De Grandhomme having already added 66 for the sixth wicket. They took their partnership to 133 before left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who could well be a key figure in the final innings, trapped Mitchell lbw for a tenacious 60 with a delivery that skidded on straight.

New Zealand’s fast bowlers were much less effective with the bat than they had been in the first Test, with Marco Jansen (22-2-98-4) and Kagiso Rabada wrapping up the tail as the Black Caps were bowled out for 293.

De Grandhomme’s brilliant, career-best innings of 120 not out was perhaps not used to its full potential in the end, but he certainly kept New Zealand in the game. He adapted to the differing situations out in the middle extremely well, eventually needing just 158 deliveries for his runs.

Rabada produced another fine, controlled display of fast bowling to finish with 5/60 in 19 overs.

Keegan Petersen survived and then flourished in a breathless 22 overs before stumps to take South Africa, who are chasing 212 to win the series, to 101/2 at close of play on the third day of the third Test at Newlands on Thursday.

A dramatic final session saw captain Dean Elgar all but bat through to the close, but he fell with just two balls remaining to stumps when he flashed at a delivery down the leg-side from Jasprit Bumrah, getting an edge, confirmed by DRS, which was well-taken by diving wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

Elgar had scored a typically measured 30 and shared in a tremendously plucky stand of 78 for the second wicket with Petersen.

The skipper had earlier been involved in a flashpoint just over an hour into their partnership when India – and most onlookers – were left convinced that the DRS system needed a breathalyser after Elgar, on 22, managed to overturn his lbw dismissal against off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ashwin drifted the ball into the pads of the left-hander and then straightened it off the pitch into his front leg, around knee height. Umpire Marais Erasmus understandably gave Elgar out and early replays suggested South Africa’s captain was stone dead. But ball-tracking then showed the ball bouncing over the stumps, much to the bemusement of practically everyone at the ground.

India were furious and made their displeasure known as both captain Virat Kohli and Ashwin made a point of shouting into the stump microphones.

Petersen continued to impress at the highest level, scoring 48 not out in another display of great composure and high skill.

Unfortunately for Aiden Markram, the embattled Proteas opener did not show as good judgement and his Test career is now in doubt as he was caught in the slips for 16, flashing a drive at Mohammed Shami, the ball after he had survived an edge through the slips.

India had earlier rather wasted an opportunity, on a sweltering day, to bat South Africa out of the game as they were dismissed for just 198.

Resuming on 57/2, they would lose Cheteshwar Pujara (9) and Ajinkya Rahane (1) in the first two overs of the day, bowled by Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada respectively.

Pant counter-attacked boldly, but with excellent shot-selection, as he and Kohli added 94 for the fifth wicket.

But the pressure bowling of Lungi Ngidi bore fruit after lunch as he ripped through the middle-order with a spell of 3/12 in seven overs, including the wicket of Kohli for a 143-ball 29, Markram taking a fantastic leaping catch at second slip.

Pant batted superbly while losing wickets at the other end and eventually completed a pugnacious, stroke-filled 100 not out off just 139 balls, which include four sixes.

Marco Jansen was threatening throughout and finished with 4/36 in 19-and-a-half overs, while Ngidi (14-5-21-3) and Rabada (17-5-53-3) kept the pressure on the batsmen.