South Africa Vs Bangladesh First Test Played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong

Brief Score Card: South Africa All Out 248 (T Bavuma 54, F du Plessis 48, D Elgar 47, VD Philander 24, Mustafizur Rahman 4/37, Jubair Hossain 3/53): Bangladesh 7/0.

Match Report:

The best probable team combination, great planning and perfect application made the Day 1 a dream day for neo Bangladesh in the first test against strong South Africa in Chittagong. Mustafiz made an auspicious start to his test career with another rocking performance of 4/37 (three of his four wickets came in four balls of his fourteenth over), Jubair Hossain took 3/53 (not in his better balls of the day), very accurate Shahid kept his leash very tight on the dogs neck to let his mates hunt from the other end with very accurate attack in the corridor of uncertainty.

South Africa collapsed from 1/136 to 248 all out. For only the third time in 15 years test history Bangladesh could make an opponent team all out on the first day of a test match and  that too the ICC top ranked test team.

When the match started there were a little bit of surprise in not finding Rubel and Soumya with the team. But we thought the changed Bangladesh went with a positive mind set going with 7 batsmen and 4 genuine front ranked bowlers. Shakib in the side made it five. Preferring strong Shahid over Rubel was also a right choice for his ability of bowling persistently well on a perfect line and length. Soumya could not find a slot in quality top order and there was no point wasting his talent at late middle order. Litton was required to keep wickets as Mushfiqur was not feeling comfortable for keeping.

Wicket did not have pace or movement and appeared flat. Wonder boy Mustafiz did not have great first spell. Dean Elgar and S van Zyl were looking very comfortable negotiating whatever was thrown to them. Mushfiqur kept rotating his bowling options till Mahmudullah brought in the break through inducing Zyl to nick behind. That remained the only success for Bangladesh in the first session. At 1/136 few could anticipate what drama was going to be staged soon.

In post lunch session Shahid kept probing just outside the off stump on a nagging length creating great discomfort for South African batsmen. Mushfiqur rotated his bowlers on the other end. Taijul and Shakib struck double blows in successive overs removing well set Elgar and du Plessis. The flood gate was opened. Mustafiz returned in his third spell and had his magic working again. In his 14th over he struck gold sucking the cream of South African batting. Amla, Duminy and de Kock were consumed in four deliveries. He dealt the killer blow turning the tide proving that morning does not always show the day.

It was the very consistent bowling of Shahid from the other end which had catalytic impacts on South African collapse. Balls after balls South African batsmen failed to get Shahid away. When Mustafiz completed his dream spell young Leg Spinner Jubair joined the act. He was beating the bat almost regularly with his measured leg spins and googlies. But he was struggling a bit with his length and line. His good balls did not earn him wickets but he got three with his lesser balls. The resistance of South African batting came briefly through Bavuma and Philander till Jubair struck quick triple blows. Mustafiz returned with new ball to get his fourth wicket making it yet another dream debut. He announced his arrival loudly in international arena in T20 getting Shahid Afridi, his first wicket in ODI debut was Rohit Sharma (the owner of two 200 plus scores in ODI) and in test he started with Hashim Amla (one of the best in the business). He caused the major damage removing Amla, Duminy and de Kock in four deliveries. Duminy and de Kock could not even open their account. South Africa lost their last 9 wickets for 112 runs.

Bangladesh survived the two tricky overs at the end of the day’s play knocking of 7-run. Day 1 definitely belonged to Bangladesh.

It will all now depend on how Bangladesh batsmen apply themselves against Steyn, Philander and Morkel (all three are among the top ten ICC ranked test bowlers). Bangladesh need to grab the initiative and reflect their confidence demonstrating the similar positive attitude of their bowling and fielding. On easy paced wicket if they bat with careful aggression they can really put South Africans under lot of pressure by the end of day 2. But there is so much of play left in the test.
 
We think the team think tank chose the winning combination that we suggested in match preview. Letting Mustafiz debut was perfect. Choosing Shahid as his new ball mate was also OK for his steady accurate bowling. His bowling really assisted his bowling mates attacking from the other end. This bowling attack has depth and diversity – a left arm mystery pacer, a right arm line and length bowler, two left arm spinners of different variety, a quality leg spinner and if required a partnership breaker off spinner. It may not be impossible for Bangladesh to push for a win from where the match starts if Bangladesh bats with a plan and exploit the advantage that its bowlers have brought for them.

We wonder what Boycott, Ramiz Raza or Sarfraz Nawaz will now say. How Gavaskar read Mustafiz rightly! Here is a boy who will rewrite few pages of World Cricket for sure. Bangladesh must not worry about Soumya Sarkar too much. He will have his time in the sun in not too distant future in test cricket also. But for the time being he cannot find his slot in the top order.

It was a rare sight watching ICC top ranked team struggle against 9th team in ranking on day 1 purely on cricketing merit. Test cricket changes hue from session to session. At Lunch it appeared that South Africa were shaping for major first innings score. Mustafiz tremor rocked them back; Jubair dealt with the killer blow. End of the day Bangladesh the minnows (?) of test cricket looked ruling the masters.

** Winning Combination

BDST: 0840 HRS, JULY 22, 2015
SR