Abject Tigers hurtle towards defeat
It would be comforting to say that the second day of the second Test against South Africa was as bad as it could get for Bangladesh, but that would be a lit because today's third day lies in store. It is hard to imagine that the cricketers themselves will not share the dread of another day of embarrassment that the fans must be feeling after Bangladesh were all out for 147 on a pitch where they conceded 573 for four. They then suffered the ignominy of having to follow on in fading natural light less than four hours after starting their first innings, but the bright new lights of the Mangaung Oval game left them no place to hide. The umpires eventually decided enough was enough after eight balls and let the opener escape with seven on the board.
To call Bangladesh's batting terrible would be to imply that they have shown on this tour that they can do better. Inept is a better word. There were no special demons in the Mangaung Oval wicket. There were no deliveries that were shooting past the nose off a good length. Bouncers remained bouncers, and good balls outside off stump remained run-scoring chances that were impossible to resist.
It is the mental aspect -- although there were technical ones aplenty -- that undid Bangladesh. And it has been plaguing them throughout this tour, from Potchefstroom's 90 all out to the debacle yesterday. South Africa had declared on 573 for four just half an hour after lunch, which was taken an hour late after early-morning rain caused a 90-minute delay to the start. All the top four needed to tell themselves and set their stall out to do was to reach tea with minimal loss. It was still a good batting wicket, and South Africa's bowling minus Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel was not extra special.
After tea, which started with Bangladesh losing Imrul Kayes and Sabbir Rahman to tone-deaf shots outside off stump, wicketkeeper Liton Das saved Bangladesh from utter embarrassment by stroking a 77-ball 70. Liton's batting, as well as left-arm spinner Taijul Islam's 12 off 38 balls served to prove that the pitch was not a minefield. Taijul was eventually castled by an in-dipping beauty from Duanne Olivier in the 32nd over. The 70-runs notwithstanding, Liton, who brought up his second Test fifty off 53 balls, was living by the sword and perished by it. He unleashed an ungainly pull off Kagiso Rabada for the skier to be caught by du Plessis running back from slip to leave Bangladesh at 143 for eight in the 39th over.
Mustafizur Rahman was then caught off bat and pad off Keshav Maharaj, and Rubel Hossain, after hanging around for an impossible 33 deliveries was bowled by Rabada to give the fast bowler his fifth wicket and bring a merciful end to the innings.
Before that, after the declaration, Soumya Sarkar displayed his intentions by chasing after a wide delivery in the second over. He played two square cuts for four before being bowled round his legs by Rabada for nine in the seventh over. Mominul Haque lasted seven deliveries before failing to get his hands away from a Olivier -- the first-change option in Potchefstroom but now an opening bowler in the absence of Morkel -- lifter to be caught behind for four in the 10th over.
While Mominul was the only specialist batsman not to fall to an irresponsible shot, Mushfiqur Rahim's innings was most culpable because as a leader, he is supposed to lead by example -- which was his specialty before this tour. Instead, he started trying to run rising deliveries outside off four through the vacant third man region. Although it was a catch for the ages by Temba Bavuma, who dived to his right at gully to pluck a speeding ball off a glide inches from the turf, that sent Mushfiqur packing off his eighth ball for seven in the 12th over from Olivier, a dismissal in the cordon was very much on the cards.
The person walking in at 36 for three no longer inspires confidence. Mahmudullah Riyad hit a four through cover in Wayne Parnell's first over, the 15th of the innings. The very next ball, to a completely innocuous delivery outside off stump Mahmudullah hung his bat out, edged to the keeper and walked off for all the runs the previous shot had fetched him, leaving Bangladesh on 49 for four.
The Tigers took tea on 61 for four. Before the break, Imrul Kayes did what he always does. He hooked well to reach 26, but observers of Bangladesh cricket would have known what was around the corner. In the third ball after tea he wafted at a Rabada away-swinger and edged behind to leave his team on 61 for five.
Sabbir Rahman, the man who in his own words makes no distinction between T20s and Tests if there is a ball to be hit, left a few deliveries to give the impression that he was indeed playing a Test, before chipping Rabada straight to extra cover for a duck.
Earlier, it was the polar opposite as Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis took the overnight score of 428 for three to 530 for three in the rain-shortened first session. Bangladesh's bowlers neither threatened nor challenged the batsmen. Amla soon reached his hundred off his 113th delivery with a checked bunt through the vacant backward point region off Mustafizur Rahman in the 97th over. With this hundred he moved past Smith on 27 hundreds and is behind only Jacques Kallis's 45 in South Africa's all-time stakes. Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim had tried all four of his specialist bowlers by the time the fourth-wicket partnership had crossed 200, and that was soon followed by Du Plessis's seventh ton when, in the 107th over, he flicked Mustafizur for four off his 147th ball.
After lunch, Amla, seemingly bored with the utter lack of challenge from the opposition, walked across his stumps to Subhasish Roy and was bowled around his legs without adding to his lunchtime score. It just set the stage for Quinton de Kock to come in and sweep and reverse-sweep left-arm spinner Taijul Islam to distraction in his 27-ball 28, thus allowing Du Plessis to declare the innings closed after the half hour since lunch produced 43 runs from seven overs.