South Africa - Dhaka Mirror

SA women due on Nov 3

Admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 10:50:19 +0000

South Africa women’s cricket team will arrive for their home series against Bangladesh on November 3, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan confirmed on Wednesday.
The South Africa women’s team was scheduled to arrive on October 15 to play five one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals. But they postponed tour in the wake of Australian cricket team’s decision to call off their two-match Test series in Bangladesh after official warnings that militants may attack Western interests here.
During the sideline of recent International Cricket Council meeting in Dubai, the BCB could convince Cricket South Africa that the security situation in Bangladesh is not as grave as it has been portrayed.
South Africa as a result wanted a revised schedule which the BCB sent duly. According to the revised itinerary South Africa women’s team was supposed to arrive on October 28, but a fresh travel alert by Westerners prompted them to delay their new arrival date.
The BCB on Wednesday also announced the itinerary of Zimbabwe cricket team, who will be arriving on November 2 to play three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals.

-With New Age input

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Rain halts Tigers’ victory push

Admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 05:52:34 +0000

Bangladesh will be confident going into the second Test match against South Africa in Dhaka as draw looks inevitable after rain washed out the fourth day’s play in the first Test in Chittagong on Friday.
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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Rain washes out fourth day’s play in Chittagong

Admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 18:19:27 +0000

Rain washed out the fourth day’s play in the first Test between Bangladesh and South Africa on Friday, leaving the chance of a result bleak.
Match officials called off play at 1:25pm local time (07:25GMT) as rain continued to grow heavy at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
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. The tourists still trail by 17 runs.
The second and final Test of two-match series will be held in Dhaka from July 30 to August 3. – See more at: http://newagebd.net/140231/rain-washes-out-fourth-days-play-in-chittagong/#sthash.9jJZDj1K.dpuf

-With New Age input

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Tigers set fighting lead, SA close in

Admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 16:36:28 +0000

Rain robbed Bangladesh of a chance to push South Africa harder in the first Test after it ate up nearly 25 overs of the third day in Chittagong on Thursday.
The Tigers recorded their highest score of 326 runs against South Africa to take a vital 78-run first innings lead and was then looking to take a few wickets in the evening session.
But rain and bad light forced early stumps for the second consecutive day.
South Africa reached 61-0 in 21.1 overs in their second innings to trim the lead down to just 17 runs. The two openers Stiaan van Zyl and Dean Elgar survived unscathed at 33 and 28 respectively, giving South Africa an opportunity to regroup and correct their first innings mistakes today.
Bangladesh had their moments on the third day as Sakib al Hasan and Liton Das shared a 82-run partnership for the sixth wicket to take them to the lead, before tail-ender Mohammad Shahid belted 25 off 19 balls.
Sakib (47) and Liton (50)
came together at time when they were still in danger of losing their way, having resumed the third day’s play at 179-4 and lost skipper Mushfiqur Rahim early to Dale Steyn.
Steyn outthought Mushfiq making him play repeatedly, before hitting him plumb in front to get his first success of the day. Umpire Joel Wilson initially declared Mushfiq not out but South Africa successfully reviewed the decision to send back the Bangladesh captain, who could only add 12 to his overnight 16.
Sakib struggled initially but grew in confidence after hitting medium pacer Stiaan van Zyl for two back-to-back fours. Liton batted with more conviction driving Steyn straight to take Bangladesh past South Africa’s first innings total.
Liton then hit JP Duminy, who was surprisingly introduced in the attack only in the third day, past cover, to help Bangladesh surpass their previous highest score of 259 runs against South Africa.
With Bangladesh scurrying ahead, Sakib made a big blunder, apparently in pursuit of his maiden a fifty against South Africa, when he top-edged spinner Simon Harmer to get dismissed.
Sakib attempted the same shot four balls earlier in the same over but his miscued pull landed in no-man’s land. Harmer then tested him with a little-bit fuller ball and the Bangladesh talisman duly obliged.
The biggest entertainment came moments later when Shahid hit Harmer for three fours and a six in his next over to take 18 runs. He showed the same aggression against a more accomplished bowler Vernon Philander and paid the price by offering a low, diving catch to van Zyl at midwicket.
Liton completed his maiden Test fifty in his second Test two overs later nudging Harmer to the leg side for a single, but was caught off-guard by an awkward bounce in the same over to end his innings.
It was too much of an ask for Bangladesh’s tail-enders to keep the innings going against such a quality attack and they inevitably failed. Steyn claimed the last two wickets to finish with 3-78, moving closer to becoming second South African bowler to take 400 wickets in Tests.
Steyn needs just one more wicket to join former captain Shaun Pollack, which will also make him only third among the current cricketers after Harbhajan Singh and James Anderson to get 400 wickets.

-With New Age input

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Liton delivers just in time

Admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 16:34:18 +0000

Liton Das showed a glimpse of his talent when he hit his maiden Test fifty against South Africa on Thursday, helping Bangladesh to take a vital lead in the first innings.
Liton was under pressure to deliver making into the team as a specialist batsman cum wicket-keeper at a time when Bangladesh had to leave out a few other talented batsmen like Soumya Sarkar and Nasir Hossain.
With Mushfiqur Rahim in the team as skipper, there is little room for Bangladesh to play someone simply as wicket-keeper, which means anyone who was going to replace him behind the stumps had to score some runs.
Liton showed he has enough of it in his Test debut against India with a fluent knock of 44 runs but that hardly tested his character in a game mostly dominated by rain at Fatullah.
He had the stage set for him on Thursday as Bangladesh were desperately looking for someone to give Sakib al Hasan a good company and forge a partnership after they had lost skipper Mushfiq early.
Liton took his time and did not hit his first boundary until he faced 40th ball. The flick off Morne Morkel that raced past midwicket wicket boundary gave Liton such a confidence that he did not need to look back again.
A few overs later he smashed two back-to-back fours off off-spinner Simon Harmer before taking care of Dale Steyn, the most experienced among all South African bowlers.
A straight drive past boundary rope helped Bangladesh overtake South Africa’s first innings total giving them a psychological edge over the Proteas.
His next four off JP Duminy was less celebrated but it also brought Bangladesh a moment of joy as it took them past their highest score of 259 runs against South Africa.
‘We get a lot of loose balls in domestic cricket, but it is the opposite in international cricket,’ Liton said later in day, describing his experience against world’s one of the finest bowling line-ups.
‘The wicket was slow so it wasn’t also easy to play shots. I had to be careful. There is a different need every day so today the demand of the situation was for me to play this way.’
Liton did exactly what was asked to him by putting an 82-run stand with Sakib for the sixth wicket to frustrate South Africans. He batted with more conviction than his more illustrious partner Sakib and did not play a lose shot until got an inside edge off Harmer.
It took his South African counterpart Quinton de Kock to show a brilliant reflex to take the catch in front of off-stump to leave him content with just a fifty.
The right-hander, who earned his name scoring 1,064 runs in most recent first-class season, understandably was not satisfied with scoring just 50 when a bigger innings could have given the team a greater advantage.
‘I wanted to make a bigger score as I was the only regular batsman at the time, the rest were lower-order batsmen,’ he said. ‘I think I played quite well, as long as I batted. I wanted to play the maximum number of deliveries with the bowlers.’

-With New Age input

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Tigers claim they are in driving seat

Admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 16:32:38 +0000

Bangladesh believe they are still ahead in the first Test despite South Africa whittled down their first innings advantage to 17 at the end of third day’s play in Chittagong on Thursday.
Bangladesh’s bowlers failed to establish their authority in the second innings leaving South Africa unharmed in more than 21 overs they batted before bad light and light shower forced early stumps.
Openers Stiaan van Zyl and Dean Elgar took South Africa to 61-0 with unbeaten innings of 33 and 28 respectably that allowed the visitors to claw their way back into game.
They will be hoping to bat out the fourth day and set a reasonable target for Bangladesh that would give them a fair chance to win the game and take 1-0 in the two-match Test series.
But Bangladesh batsman Liton Das said they can still bowl out South Africa with an under-par score in the second innings and chase that down to post what would be very memorable win for them.
‘I think we are still ahead of them. It is slightly harder to score runs on this wicket,’ Liton said after third day’s play in Chittagong. ‘It may have been better had we taken 2-3 wickets early but still, I would say we are ahead.’
Liton, however, set a pre-condition for the bowlers, saying that they must bowl in good areas to put South African batsmen under pressure.
‘We have to bowl well. If we can be disciplined, it will help us,’ said Liton. ‘I would ask our bowlers to bowl wicket-to-wicket, there’s help in the wicket.
‘It would be better if we can chase 150 to 200 runs in the fourth innings.’

-With New Age input

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Tigers grind out advantage on rain-curtailed day

Admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 12:27:03 +0000

Bangladesh were nicely poised in the first Test against South Africa at 179-4 before rain brought a premature end to the second day’s play in Chittagong on Wednesday.
The visitors threw everything at the hosts after Bangladesh bowled them out cheaply for 248 runs, but the batsmen successfully negotiated their bowlers to retain the advantage.
Tamim Iqbal provided the necessary resistance to score his first fifty against South Africa and Mahmudullah built on the start to score 67, taking Bangladesh to a comfortable position before rain intervened.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, 16 not out, will resume the innings with Sakib al Hasan today, the third day of the match, hoping to take the Tigers close to 400 runs in order to give them a chance to put South Africa under pressure.
Things could have been much better for Bangladesh had Mahmudullah not been dismissed just before rain halted play as Vernon Philander trapped him leg-before.
Philander’s wicket was the only success for South Africa’s much-talked-about pace trio, who struggled to make an impact on the slow
wicket at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Dale Steyn swung the ball both ways and looked to have produced some reverse swing at times while Morne Morkel took some extra bounce from a hard pitch, without any reward.
Bangladesh played them cautiously but did not give them any undue respect, which helped them keep the scoreboard ticking amid relentless pressure from the pace trio.
Their part-timers, meanwhile, found the opportunity to take some wickets, giving the side regular breakthroughs and not allowing Bangladesh to put any big partnership.
For Bangladesh it was important to negotiate the new-ball threat and Tamim and Imrul Kayes did the job successfully, putting on 41 runs in their opening stand.
Imrul lost his concentration once South Africa introduced part-time medium pacer Stiaan van Zyl, who dragged the opener out of his crease for a stumping, which end his watchful innings at 26.
The most awkward part of Bangladesh’s innings came moments later when one-down Mominul Haque attempted to cut a delivery of off-spinner Simon Harper that was too close to his body.
The ball, which was also a quicker, beat Mominul and crashed onto his stumps, leaving him out for six, and putting Bangladesh in some trouble at 2-55.
Tamim and Mahmudullah helped the Tigers recover with an 89-run second wicket stand denying South Africa any chance of making an inroad.
Tamim was uncharacteristically watchful during his innings, hitting just two boundaries, before he completed his fifty off 119 balls. He fell to Dean Elgar, another part-timer, who bowled the left-hander with a full toss just when he was looking set for a big innings.
Tamim took overall 129 balls for his inning and hit just three fours. His innings was also a statement of sorts from Bangladesh, suggesting they were not willing to give up anything without a try, at the least.
They can make the third day a very long one for South Africa should they stick to the same strategy.

-With New Age input

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Advantage Bangladesh

Admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 12:26:13 +0000

Anyone familiar with Bangladesh cricket will think twice before calling them favourites in first Test against South Africa after they lost four vital wickets to score 179 runs in the rain-hit second day on Wednesday.
The Tigers collapsed from much better positions in the past to hand oppositions the advantage, a tendency which is partly responsible for their dismal record in Test cricket.
But with their new-found confidence following some outstanding results in limited-over cricket, they are now a completely different outfit, one that can take their chances against any opposition.
At least this is what they believe. Even the oppositions also believe it, despite being fully aware of their vulnerability in tight situations.
The Tigers came within the touching distance of South Africa’s first innings total of 248 runs, trailing them by just 69 runs at stumps, a deficit which they believe now can be wiped out without any fuss.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is still at the crease unbeaten on 16 and he is being accompanied by Sakib al Hasan, who can bat with authority and they give the home side some realistic hope.
06If Mushfiq and Sakib can take Bangladesh something close to 400 runs, the game will turn completely to their way, said batsman Mahmudullah, Bangladesh’s top-scorer so far in the innings with 67.
‘I think 400 runs are still very much possible for us in the first innings,’ Mahmudllah said after the day’s play. ‘If we can do this the match is ours. All we need is another big partnership. I am hopeful because we have still got Mushfiq and Sakib at the crease.’
South Africa’s bowling coach Charl Langeveldt had no hesitation to admit that the game is lurking 60 percent towards Bangladesh already, but Mahmudullah claimed that they are even in a better position than it has been perceived by the opposition.
‘It would have been nice if we were able to take the lead today,’ said Mahmudullah as rain forced an early stumps with 25 overs left on the second day. ‘A lot of things depend on first innings. It will determine whether we are in driving seat or on back foot.
‘The good thing is that at present we are in a comfortable position. If we can take a big lead in the first innings they will be under pressure.
I think we have 60 per cent chance of winning this match at the moment. It could be even 65-35 percent in our favour. We have got a long batting line up. Usually we don’t get this kind of opportunities, so we are determined to take our chance.’
Some of Bangladesh’s confidence came from the way they handled South African pacers on the second day, frustrating their pace trio Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander for a long period.
It took the South African pacers 67 overs to make their mark when Philander trapped Mahmudullah in front. For a team vulnerable against quality pace bowling this was no mean an achievement for Bangladesh.
‘Pace is something which always matters,’ said Mahmudullah. We faced some really quick bowlers in Pakistan Test. South African bowlers were also very quick, especially Steyn, who can swing the ball both ways. Philander is also the same. So it was really good experience for us.’

-With New Age input

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Rabada racially abused

Admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 12:24:49 +0000

South African paceman Kagiso Rabada was subject to a racial abuse during the first Test in Chittagong on Wednesday, prompting the authorities to make several security announcements at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. A security official of the Bangladesh Cricket Board told reporters that Rabada, who is not playing that match, had been warming up on the sideline when some unruly fans hurled abusive words at him.
Rabada immediately complained it to match referee Chris Broad, who asked the authorities to find the culprits and take action.
BCB’s security consultant major (retd) Hossain Imam admitted the incident, adding that they successfully identified the culprit and later handed him over to the police.
‘We took the issue very seriously once we were informed of it,’ he told New Age. The culprit was identified quickly and we handed him to the police.’
Venue manager Fazle Bari told New Age that match referee Broad had threatened to stop the match if fans had continued their abuse.
‘We took action immediately after we came to know the incident,’ he said.
‘Several announcements were made to raise awareness among the fans and inform them about the consequence of any kind of abuse. After that, not one had repeated it,’ he said.
Sources said BCB identified at least two offenders but police refused to take them as they were both minor boys. BCB then took them to match-referee, who finally instructed the duo to be released.

-With New Age input

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Positive Tigers reap rich rewards

Admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 17:03:15 +0000

Bangladesh came out of their defensive mindset in Test match cricket to reap rich rewards, bowling out South Africa cheaply for 248 in the first innings, to seize early momentum in the first of the two-match Test series, in Chittagong on Tuesday.
The Tigers, much criticised in recent matches for playing with eight batsmen, abandoned the idea this time and dropped an in-form Soumya Sarkar to accommodate an extra bowler.
It produced a result beyond imagination as all six bowlers they used made some valuable contribution to put them firmly in control at stumps on the first day.
Debutant Mustafizur Rahman led the way with 4-37 while leg-spinner Jubair Hossain justified his constant backing from coach Chandika Hathurusinghe to finish with 3-53.
Before Mustafiz and Jubair got into the act, the other bowlers did their part creating enormous pressure to which the South African team offered a meek surrender, despite a brisk start.
South African captain Hashim Amla did not think twice to bat first after he won the toss, and Stiaan van Zyl along with Dean Elgar put 58 runs for the opening stand to give them a good foundation.
Mahmudullah removed van Zyl for 34 runs to bring the Tigers their first breakthrough but South Africa were still on top scoring 104 runs in the opening session.
The momentum swung Bangladesh’s way once Mohammad Shahid bowled five maiden overs in a row to pile the pressure on the batsmen, who finally fell to left-arm spinners Sakib al Hasan and Taijul Islam.
Taijul ended Elgar’s vigil at 47 and Sakib delivered
in the next over trapping Faf du Plessis in front for 48, to leave Amla and the lower-middle order to rebuild the innings.
South Africa then had a ‘what-just-happened’ moment when Mustafiz ripped through their batting line-up in one magical over, which could have brought him a wicket for each of his six deliveries.
He made Amla his first Test victim in the first ball of his 14th over after the South African captain made just 13 and then hit JP Duminy on his front foot, crying out loud for a leg before, in the next ball.
Joel Wilson, himself a debutant Test umpire, turned down the appeal, prompting Bangladesh to go for a review to get the decision reversed.
Quinton de Kock somehow parried the hat-trick ball but was late on a defensive push in the next delivery to see his off-stump cart-wheeling and completing Bangladesh’s turn around.
Jubair took care of the tail-enders after the Mustafiz burst, first making happy-going Vernon Philander provide a catch to Sakib at slip for 24, before dismissing Simon Harmer and Dale Steyn.
Temba Bavuma was still at the crease to keep South Africa floating, but Mustafiz returned in his next spell to have him caught by Tamim Iqbal at deep midwicket.
Imrul Kayes dropped at least two catches at slip, including one by Bavuma, a specialist batsman, who could have taken South Africa toward a respectable total.
Thanks to Mustafiz he had to stop at 54, his maiden Test fifty, which became South Africa’s highest innings eventually.
Imrul’s slippery hands denied Shahid a wicket, something which could have been a fitting reward for his extremely tight bowling, but on a day when every other thing went to Tigers’ favour, he had to console himself with the team’s success.
Opener Tamim Iqbal (one not out) and Imrul (five not out) remained unscathed to take Bangladesh to 7-0 as the Tigers kept their advantage intact before bad light ended the day’s play two overs earlier than the stipulated 90 overs.

-With New Age input

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