Maharaj's knock of 84 followed Mulder's 3 wickets puts SA in complete control

South Africa has taken complete control of the proceedings in the Port Elizabeth Test after they reduced Bangladesh to 137/5 at Stump's on day 02 right after their batters posted a mammoth total of 453.

Starting the day at 278/5, South Africa picked off from where they had left. Bangladesh bowlers, especially Khaled Ahmed, displayed some fight, troubling Kyle Verreynne and exchanging a few words with the player.

He even had a loud LBW call against Kyle, but the third umpire subsequently shot it down. Verreynne did manage to hit him for a couple of boundaries, but Ahmed had the last laugh as he nipped one back to knock over the wicket keeper's middle-stump.

However, the delight on the face of Bangladesh bowlers was short-lived as Keshav Maharaj, just like his skipper Dean Elgar on the previous morning, came out all guns blazing.

The left-arm orthodox (84 off 95 deliveries) wasted no time getting in the zone as he smoked Taijul Islam for a couple of sixes en route to a run-a-ball half-century.

Even Wiaan Mulder got going in his company as he smashed Mehidy Hasan for a six during a rapid 80-run-stand for the 7th wicket.

While Maharaj remained unbeaten on 55 at Lunch, Mulder's knock ended prematurely when Taijul got one to rip past his defence and knock over his stumps.

Maharaj continued in his merry way after the Lunch break as he smashed Ebadot Hossain for three fours while also getting dropped once.

His blitz ensured that South Africa moved past the 400-run-mark on the board. However, the left-arm spinner missed out on a well-deserved ton by 16 runs as Taijul knocked him over after he missed an attempted hoick across the line.

This was Taijul's 5th wicket of the innings, and he added one more to his tally but not before Simon Harmer and Lizard Williams added another 35 runs for the 9th wicket to take the score past the 450-mark.

Taijul had Harmer stumped while Mehidy trapped Williams plumb in front to end the innings.

Chasing 453, Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start as they lost their centurion from the last ball in Mahmudul Hasan Joy for a two-ball duck.

However, Tamim Iqbal threw caution to the wind and blazed away with a 57-ball 47, adding 79 runs for the second wicket with Shanto in just 20 overs.

Wiaan Mulder proved to be the nemesis for Bangladesh as he trapped both Tamim and Shanto plumb in front to reduce the tourists to 85/3 and then to 100/4 after dismissing Mominul Haque in the same fashion.

Liton Das, too failed to convert his start (11 off 14 deliveries) as he got knocked over by Oliver in the 33rd over, leaving Mushfiqur Rahim and the lower middle-order to salvage the innings.

Brief Scores:

South Africa- 453 all-out in 136.2 overs

Keshav Maharaj 84 (95)

Dean Elgar- 70 (89)

Temba Bavuma- 67 (162)

Keegan Petersen- 64 (124)

Taijul Islam- 6/135 (50)

Khaled Ahmed- 3/100 (29)

Bangladesh- 139/5 in 41 overs

Tamim Iqbal 47 (57)

Najmul Hossain Shanto 33 (74)

Mushfiqur Rahim 30* (55)

Wiaan Mulder 3/15 (6)

Duanne Oliver 2/17 (9)

South Africa lead by 314 runs at Stumps on Day 02