Smith sees no progress

South Africa batsman Ashwell Prince is delighted after scoring 150 runs for the first time on the third day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Centurion Park on Friday. Photo: CricInfo

It was hard to believe for Bangladesh team as they lost the second and final Test against South Africa inside three days on Friday.
The team apparently were not disappointed with the outcome. They were rather upset because they could not push their opponents finally despite having a chance after some impressive batting, which was followed up by Shakib Al Hasan's bowling.
"It's really hard to believe that we lost the match inside three days. We were in a very good position to push South Africa more in the Test but three bad runs outs spoiled everything," said a dejected Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful reflecting on his side's an innings and 48-run defeat.
Understandably, coach Jamie Siddons was also disappointed by his charges' second-innings batting where they were bundled out for 131 after an impressive 250 in the first innings.
"At least we should have given them some runs to score. It could have been fine if we could managed 250 to 270 on the board. But there were three unnecessary run outs which is totally irresponsible," said Siddons.
"Falling victims to run outs in Test match is really a crime. Things could have been much better if three batsmen had not fall for run outs. It's very difficult to fight against such a good attack if three top order batsmen get out in this way," echoed Ashraful.
Bangladesh coach and captain both said that in the match, a couple of decisions went against them and pointed to some positive outcomes in a tough series ahead of their next home assignment against Sri Lanka.
"I must praise the effort in the first innings where we scored 250 against a very good bowling attack and I am happy the way the guys defended the captain's decision of batting first on this kind of track.
"Then our bowling was good, especially Shakib was excellent. There were, however, some bad decisions," said Siddons.
On the other hand, South African skipper Graeme Smith reiterated his claim that he has hardly seen any improvement in the performance of the Bangladesh team.
"It's a difficult question for me to answer because it's not my job. My job is to see South Africa playing good cricket," said the Proteas skipper, who was mostly focused on the coming challenge against Australia.
"But I haven't seen any progress in Bangladesh cricket. I made my debut against them and earned a lot of success for my team. South Africa cricket progressed in this period of time but there is no improvement in Bangladesh for last six-seven years. They, however, got enough international exposure," he added.
"I also want to see Bangladesh progress in international cricket," he said.