Bangladesh crash to South African pace

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa: Bangladesh were forced to follow on after collapsing against South Africa"s pace attack on the second day of the first Test at Springbok Park here on Thursday.

Bangladesh were 20 for one in their second innings at the close after following on 288 runs behind South Africa"s 441 for nine declared.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 153 and it would have been worse if Mushfiqur Rahim and Shahadat Hossain had not put on a defiant 60 for the ninth wicket.

Makhaya Ntini took three for 20 while Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis claimed two wickets each.

It was a savage crash to earth for the touring team, who had the better of the early part of the day when they took eight South African wickets for 114 runs, with left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan dismissing five batsmen in succession.

Shakib finished with five for 130 with all his wickets taken at a cost of 35 runs in 13 overs on Thursday.

Bangladesh may have been lifted by their performance in the field, in contrast to the first day when South Africa scored 299 for one, but they were soon in deep trouble when they started their innings.

Dale Steyn bowled Tamim Iqbal for seven before Morne Morkel had Junaid Siddique caught at gully for eight.

Left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who did not bat because of a fracture to the base of his left thumb, had debutant Imrul Kayes caught at short leg for 10 with the last ball before tea.

When Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was caught at gully off Steyn four balls after tea his side were 33 for four.

Ntini picked up three cheap wickets as Bangladesh tumbled to 88 for eight. But wicketkeeper Rahim showed determination and a better technique than most of his teammates as he made 48 off 63 balls with nine fours. Shahadat provided plucky if fortunate support in an innings of 23.

Kayes completed an unhappy first day of batting in Test cricket when he played on against Steyn in the third over of the second innings.

Earlier South Africa looked set to extend their batting dominance of the first day when centurions Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla scored briskly against the second new ball at the start of play.

The pair added 28 in 29 minutes to the overnight total before Amla drove outside an off-cutter from Mashrafe Mortaza and was bowled off an inside edge for 112.

Six balls later Smith was bowled by a superb delivery from Mahbubul Alam for 157. The ball swung in to the left-handed Smith then moved away off the pitch to hit the top of his off stump.

Smith and Amla put on 225 for the second wicket in 244 minutes off 313 balls.

Then it was the turn of Shakib Al Hasan, who took the next five wickets. His first scalp was star batsman Jacques Kallis who was caught at mid-on for 16.

Ashwell Prince made 59 not out while wickets fell around him. Harris did not bat after suffering an injury after the toss but before the start of play Wednesday. He had strapping on his left hand when he took the field.

Score board

Bangladesh won toss

South Africa 1st inns (overnight 299-1)

*G C Smith b Mahbubul 157

N D McKenzie c Mehrab b Shahadat 42

H M Amla b Mortaza 112

J H Kallis c Ashraful b Shakib 16

A G Prince not out 59

A B de Villiers c Mushfiqur b Shakib 3

†M V Boucher b Shakib 15

M Morkel c Ashraful b Shakib 8

D W Steyn c Tamim b Shakib 1

M Ntini c Mushfiqur b Mahbubul 5

Extras (b2, lb10, nb11) 23

Total (9 wkts dec, 122.5 overs) 441

Did not bat: P L Harris

Fall: 1-102, 2-327, 3-327, 4-352, 5-365, 6-404, 7-420, 8-427, 9-441

Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 22 4 69 1 3.13 (3nb) Mahbubul Alam 24.5 8 62 2 2.49 (1nb) Shahadat Hossain 25-1-125-1 (7nb); Shakib Al Hasan 38-4-130-5; Naeem Islam 5-0-19-0; Mehrab Hossain jnr 8-0-24-0

Bangladesh 1st inns

Tamim Iqbal b Steyn 7

Imrul Kayes c Amla b Harris 10

Junaid Siddique c Prince b Morkel 8

*Mohammad Ashraful c McKenzie b Steyn 1

Mehrab Hossain jnr c Boucher b Ntini 12

Shakib Al Hasan c de Villiers b Ntini 14

†Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Kallis 48

Naeem Islam c Harris b Ntini 8

Mashrafe Mortaza c & b Morkel 5

Shahadat Hossain b Kallis 23

Mahbubul Alam not out 1

Extras (b4, lb2, w4, nb6) 16

Total (all out, 36.4 overs) 153

Fall: 1-8, 2-26, 3-33, 4-33, 5-50, 6-59, 7-71, 8-88, 9-148

Bowling: Steyn 9-2-36-2; Ntini 8-2-20-3; Morkel 8-0-55-2 (5nb, 4w); Harris 7-1-26-1 (1nb); Kallis 4.4-1-10-2

Bangladesh 2nd inns

Tamim Iqbal not out 5

Imrul Kayes b Steyn 4

Junaid Siddique not out 7

Extras (lb4) 4

Total (one wkt, 5 overs) 20

To bat: *Mohammad Ashraful, Mehrab Hossain jnr, Shakib Al Hasan, †Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Mahbubul Alam

Fall: 1-13

Bowling: Steyn 3-0-16-1; Ntini 2-2-0-0

Test debut: Imrul Kayes (Bangladesh)

Umpires: S J Davis (Australia) and I J Gould (England). TV umpire: M Erasmus. Match referee: A G Hurst (Australia)

Second & final Test: Nocember 26-30, Centurion