The post Rain halts Tigers’ victory push appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>Unless a dramatic improvement of weather, which has a very slim chance, a full 90 overs of play on the fifth day is very unlikely meaning the game is now all but over for both the teams.
Match officials called off play at 1:25pm at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium where South African players did not even turn up knowing the outcome while some of the Bangladeshi players used the time only in the indoors.
‘It’s frustrating for the players,’ Bangladesh manager Khaled Mahmud told reporters on Friday.
‘It was a thrilling contest but due to rain this contest looks to be heading towards a draw,’ said Mahmud.
‘We played well in this Test match and we were ahead till yesterday but now due to rain both teams look to be evenly balanced.
‘With the look of the sky there might not be any play at all on tomorrow [today].’
South Africa, who made 248 in the first innings, bowled out Bangladesh for 326 and reached 61-0 in their second knock when bad light forced an early stumps with 24.5 overs left to be bowled on the third day.
Openers Stiaan van Zyl was unbeaten on 33 and Dean Elgar on 28 not out as the tourists trim Bangladesh’s first innings advantage of 17 runs by the end of third day’s play.
Though draw looks to be a natural outcome considering the weather it won’t be satisfying for the Tigers unlike many other occasions when they were are at the receiving end.
Bangladesh were firmly in the contest, putting up a brave show in all the three days to bowl out their illustrious opponents cheaply before posting their highest score against the side in nine Tests.
Their first innings also completed a circle for the Tigers who have now scored 300 runs against each Test playing country and batted over 100 overs against all at least once in Test matches.
The Tigers came out from their defensive-mind set of picking eight batsmen and took the field with four regular bowlers along with all-rounder Sakib al Hasan to challenge the opponents and they were quite successful in their strategy.
They followed their good work with the ball through some skillful batting display against one of the most feared bowling attacks in the world.
It gives an impression that they were not willing to surrender meekly against the illustrious names like pace trio Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander.
Statistically it will be their biggest achievement as they lost all eight of their previous Test matches against the Proteas. Seven of their defeats came by innings margin and other by five wickets.
‘We would certainly take the confidence into our next match,’ said Mahmud.
The second and final Test of the two-match series will be held in Dhaka from July 30 to August 3.
-With New Age input
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]]>The post Steyn wins hearts of Bangladeshi fans appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>At 4:50 pm Steyn posted a picture on his official Twitter account where some boys were seen playing football through the window of his room. The South African posted ‘Stuck in my room all day, watching these kids playing soccer in the rain looks like plenty fun ‘.
An hour later, he not only posted another tweet but also attached a 15 second video that showed him playing football with those boys on the road.
Elated Steyn stated on his tweeter ‘I may have just broken every security protocol, my coach won’t be happy, but this was just to good to…’
The post became viral and Bangladeshi cricket fans hailed him through various comments and one of them said, ‘bravo Dale!
You just won the hearts of 160 million people.’After South Africa’s semi-final lose against New Zealand in the World Cup earlier in this year this is their first assignment and Steyn decided to take himself off from the shorter version games in the series in order to prolong his career.
Steyn said, ‘At this stage of my career, I’d rather be saving myself to go and participate in the major tournaments, rather than wasting the few balls I have left in my career in a Bangladesh match’.
That statement infuriated the fans as they believed he demeaned the Bangladesh and they made barrage of comments throughout the social media.
Ultimately Steyn said sorry to one of the Bangladeshi fans in the tweeter saying that he felt sorry for his comment that hurt the Bangladeshi fans.
-With New Age input
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]]>The post Confident Tigers all set for SA backlash appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>The Proteas must provide an answer and the Test series is the right kind of opportunity for them to show that they are not as bad a side as it might have looked in ODIs.
They are by far the best side in Test format for a long period of time making them favourites against any side in any condition and this series should not be any exception.
Though their batting lacked some depth with the absence of AB de Villiers and the retirement of Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Alviro Petersen in recent years, they have the excellence in bowling department that made them such a formidable Test side.
Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander are now in Chittagong to join Morne Morkel and form the pace triumvirate intimidating for any side even on a dead pitch. And they would be licking their lips looking at the sky that remained overcast for the last few days.
For Bangladesh things cannot be more worrying despite the confidence they carried from ODIs. Their problem aggravated by the confusion over their own combination, which left even the curator of Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium puzzled.
The pitch was under cover for at least four days leaving plenty of grass on it. Much to the bewilderment of the curator, coach Chandika Hathurusinghe also asked him to keep it greenish despite knowing the strength of the opponents.
It was unclear if the curator would comply because there are different suggestions from some other corners too. In most likelihood the pitch could be behaving like it
did during the final ODI when ball kept low helping the spinners to some extent.
Bangladesh have included three paceman in their 14-man squad but if pitch takes a bare look it is unlikely all of them will be playing. Things are so complicated in Bangladesh team that even two
pacers are not certain to play given the hosts’ defensive mindset in recent matches.
In their last Test against India they loaded the team with eight batsmen and it may be the same here in Chittagong too. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim indicated that Liton Das will retain his role as wicketkeeper meaning they have to compromise a batsman if they want to take
four regular bowlers to join with all-rounder Sakib al Hasan.
With Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Mushfiq, Sakib and Soumya Sarkar all stake a claim and Liton set to play as a wicketkeeper, the Tigers have only room to take three regular bowlers.
If that is the case Taijul Islam or Jubair Hossain will join two pacers, preferably prodigious Mustafizur Rahman and Mohammad
Shahid with the latter playing the last Test as lone pacer.
‘We need to find right balance,’ said coach Hathurusinghe. ‘We can look forward to good Test cricket if we get our roles and start to perform consistently,’ added the Sri Lankan.
The biggest problem is, right now even Hathurusinghe is not sure how the right balance may be attained.
-With New Age input
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]]>The post ‘Form matters, not format’ appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.
]]>As Bangladesh are preparing to take South Africa in the first Test today, the skipper made no attempt to hide his frustration, reminding all the success of Tigers in Tests over the past eight months when they lost just once.
‘It may feel a little bad because the way we are progressing in the one-dayers, everyone wants the same amount of progress in Test as well,’ Mushfiq said in Chittagong on Monday.
‘I think that is the way we have been playing in the last eight months and with the good results coming by there is a good chance for us to do well in this Test series,’ he said.
The success of Mashrafee bin Murtaza’s one-day side has earned Bangladesh a comparison of 1996 Sri Lanka and Mushfiq can very well claim it all started with him as captain.
He led the Tigers successfully to a 3-0 series sweep against Zimbabwe and then maintained success in the Test series against Pakistan when they came from behind to eke out their first ever draw against the side.
Bangladesh held India to return unscathed in a rain-marred Test in Fatullah before they clinched the back-to-back ODI series over India and South Africa by identical margin of 2-1.
‘We won three out of the last six Tests that we played, although those wins came against Zimbabwe but still we had to take 20 wickets,’ said Mushfiq. ‘Overall I think in the last eight months we have gained plenty of confidence.’
It has been argued that Mushfiq’s Test side lacked the necessary motivation and the killer instinct that is the hallmark of Mashrafee–led ODI side playing a fearless brand of cricket in recent months.
Their progress to World Cup quarter-finals at the expense of England, consecutive series wins over giants Pakistan, India and South Africa completely changed the perception about the team.
Mushfiq, who is also a part of all these successes as a player, said it is not the format, rather the form of players that matters mostly for a side.
‘Although Test cricket is a different ball game but this is still an opportunity because everyone is in good form,’ he said. ‘If the batsmen and bowlers are in good form, there is always a chance to do well,’ he said.
The Tigers’ ability to bounce back from outright defeat of Twenty20 International series and 1-0 deficit in ODIs against South also gave the team the necessary belief, said Mushfiq.
‘In the dressing room, there is a sense of confidence because we cameback in such a manner against South Africa. Whenever we have faced South Africa we never faced them with this kind of a mentality.
‘We just have to work hard and play well for five days, and it will be a challenge,’ he said.
-With New Age input
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