SA vs BAN | 2nd Test | Second-string South Africa bowling unit thrash Bangladesh 2-0

A second-string South Africa bowling led by Keshav Maharaj thrashed Bangladesh 2-0 in the test series to complete a clean sweep. Although the Bangladesh unit had just created history a few weeks back as they defeated South Africa in the ODI series, people expected the Asian outfit to trouble the Proteas, who were without some of their biggest stars. But, things turned out completely different as Maharaj spun a web around the Bangladesh batters, who crumbled and ended up losing the second test at Gqeberha by 332 runs.

The scenes were pretty much similar to the first test in Durban, as Keshav once again took seven wickets in the fourth innings to bundle out Bangladesh for 80 runs. He became the first bowler to complete two seven-wicket hauls in back to back fourth innings. The left-arm spinner’s efforts earned him the man of the match and series award.

South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first in the second test. The Proteas went on to post a massive total of 453 runs on the board thanks to contributions from the entire batting unit. Keshav Maharaj was the top scorer with 84 runs to his name. Bangladesh, in reply, could only manage 217 runs in their first innings, which involved a hard-fought half-century by Mushfiqur Rahim.

South Africa had an option to enforce follow-on but they decided against it, the Proteas went into bat again in the second innings adding another 176 runs for the loss of 6 wickets before declaring their innings. The hosts set a massive target of 413 runs for the visitors.

Bangladesh started the chase in the final hour of day 3 as they got off to the worst possible start as the Mahmudul Hasan Joy was sent back to the pavilion on the 3rd ball of the innings. Najmul Hossain Shanto and Tamim Iqbal followed him to the pavilion shortly after. The Bangla Tigers ended day three on 27-3 and were hoping that day 4 would be a better day in the office.

Day 4 turned out to be a nightmare for the visitors as another collapse followed, similar to what happened in the first test. Once again, it was the experienced left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj who went past the Bangladesh batting order in a flash. The batters kept crumbling one after another and they ended up getting bowled out on 80 runs and lost the match by 332 runs. 

Mehidy Hasan and Litton Das did show some fight but they weren’t good enough to keep Maharaj at bay for long, eventually, they lost the battle and the visitors couldn’t even last an hour on day 4. The visitors will surely be disappointed that they couldn’t produce a performance similar to what they did against New Zealand in their backyard.

Brief Scores:

South Africa (1st Innings): 453 (Maharaj 84, Elgar 70, Taijul 6-135) 

Bangladesh (1st Innings): 217 (Mushfiqur 51, Mulder 3-25, Harmer 3-39)

South Africa (2nd Innings): 176 for 6 dec (Erwee 41, Verreynne 39*, Taijul 3-67) Bangladesh (2nd Innings):80 (Litton 27, Maharaj 7-40, Harmer 3-34) 

South Africa won by 332 runs (2-0 series win)