A revealing net session?

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said yesterday that when practising at the nets out in the middle of the Mangaung Oval, on the strip beside the one that will be used for the second Test against Bangladesh today, he got a feel for the bounce and pace that will be on offer.

The two strips out in the middle looked pretty similar, with the practice one having a bit more grass on it. Du Plessis had also said that there were two sides to there being a greenish pitch, on the one hand Bangladesh's batsmen -- who folded for 90 in the second innings of the first Test on a flat wicket -- would find the going tough, but their pacers would enjoy the help that was missing in Potchefstroom.

That, in a nutshell was Bangladesh's training session yesterday. The pacers were getting good bounce and even good length balls were climbing up to head height by the time it cannoned into the nets after beating the batsmen. That was the other thing -- the batsmen were beaten a lot. With Wednesday's rain relegating them to the indoor nets, Bangladesh have barely had a chance to get a taste of the bouncy conditions.

The training session probably also held clues about Bangladesh's combination today. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam was seen given an extended spell in the practice net and although Shafiul Islam barely bowled all three of Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain and Subhasish Roy enjoyed lengthy outings yesterday. Taskin bowled more than Shafiul, but less than the other three.