3rd Match: Bangladesh v South Africa at Dhaka, 14 Apr 2003 Wisden CricInfo Live Report

3rd Match: Bangladesh v South Africa at Dhaka, 14 Apr 2003
Anand Vasu

Pre-game: Toss & Teams,
South Africa innings: 25 overs, End of innings,
Bangladesh innings: 25 overs,

ASHRAFUL GIVES BANGLADESH HOPE
Mohammad Ashraful's belligerent hitting helped Bangladesh stay competitive for longer than most people imagined against South Africa. At the halfway stage of their innings, however, Bangladesh were well behind the required rate and heading for their 34th consecutive one-day defeat.

Javed Omar, brought into the side in place of Mehrab Hossain, did not last long. Makhaya Ntini got his first breakthrough as Omar (9) steered a length ball too fine, straight into Mark Boucher's waiting hands (24 for 1).

Graeme Smith needed his bowlers to press on. Instead, Ntini and Charl Willoughby sprayed the ball around, boosting the Bangladesh total with extras and giving Ashraful and Habibul Bashar breathing space. Ashraful cut loose, playing strong pull strokes, taking on the bowlers whenever time the ball was dropped short. As he ploughed on the hopes of Bangladesh fans, and there were a fair few crammed into the Bangabandhu Stadium, built.

The introduction of Shaun Pollock, again overlooked as an opening bowler, in the ninth over helped South Africa regain the initiative. The pressure Pollock created with his tidy bowling resulted in a wicket at the other end. Allan Dawson he jagged one back into Habibul (18) and clipped his off stump, ending the 58-run second-wicket stand (82 for 2).

The loss of Sanwar Hossain (1) soon after, trapped plumb in front by Pollock (83 for 3), did not deter Ashraful. He was forced to be more careful, but his confidence did not flag, and every ball was met with a broad bat.

SOUTH AFRICA SAUNTER TO HUGE TOTAL
Without so much as straining sinews, South Africa stitched together a mammoth total against Bangladesh. On a featherbed Dhaka wicket, they reached 294 for 3 after opting to bat first. It was a passage of play with few thrills – no batsman went after the bowling, no bowler caught the eye. The gulf in quality between the two teams, more than anything else, kept the scoreboard ticking over.

South Africa looked to openers Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith to provide a good start and they did so with minimum fuss. The pair took ones and twos at will, all the while looking for opportunities to strike boundaries.

It was only in the 17th over that the opening stand of 112 was broken. Mohammad Rafique had Smith stumped, deceiving him with a gentle floater, leaving Smith to curse himself over an opportunity squandered.

If Smith was unlucky to miss out, Gibbs was plain stupid to do so. Jacques Rudolph eased a slow delivery down to long-off and set off briskly. The single completed, the batsmen turned, with plenty of time to make it two. Instead of running hard, Gibbs sauntered across and a good throw from Javed Omar found the stumps via Alok Kapali. Gibbs’ run-a-ball 62 came to a sorry end and South Africa had needlessly lost another wicket (133 for 2).

The removal of both openers with slightly more than 20 overs bowled gave Bangladesh a chance to put pressure on a South African middle order short of a batsman of the highest quality. With Jacques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar attempting to get set, the bowlers slipped in a few tight overs.

Try as they might though, they could not pick up wickets. Rudolph grew in confidence, motoring on to 44 off 45 balls, before a lapse in concentration cost him his wicket (189 for 3). He chopped hard at a short, wide ball from Rafique, but only managed a top edge to Tareq Aziz at short third man.

From there on, with wickets in hand, some South Africans would have looked at a 300-plus total. After all, India did exactly that against them yesterday. The logic was sound, barring the simple fact that Neil McKenzie (55 not out) could not strike the ball as freely as Dinesh Mongia, and Dippenaar (66 not out) could not pace his innings as well as Mohammad Kaif.

A largely charm-less partnership of 105 runs in 111 balls took South Africa close to 300 though, and it should be more than enough to send Bangladesh plummeting to a 34th successive defeat.

SOUTH AFRICA CRUISE ALONG
The fall of two wickets against the grain of play did not stop South Africa from scoring at a fast clip against Bangladesh. Graeme Smith (45) and Herschelle Gibbs (62) made good starts and failed to go on, even as South Africa reached 127 for two from 25 overs.

The South Africans began in commanding fashion, racing to 50 in just ten overs. They needed to take no risks on a placid wicket against a Bangladesh attack that lacked penetration. Smith and Gibbs took ones and twos at will, all the while looking for opportunities to strike boundaries.

It was only in the 17th over that the opening stand of 112 was broken. Mohammad Rafique had Smith stumped, deceiving him with a gentle floater. Smith cursed himself as an opportunity to make a big score went abegging.

If Smith was unlucky to miss out, Gibbs was plain stupid to do so. Jacques Rudolph eased a slow delivery down to long off and set off briskly. The single completed, the batsmen turned, with plenty of time to make it two. Instead of running hard, Gibbs sauntered across and a good throw from Javed Omar found the stumps via Alok Kapali. Gibbs’ run-a-ball 62 came to a sorry end and South Africa had needlessly lost another wicket (133 for two).

Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar made sure there were no further blips as they took South Africa to 147/2 in 25 overs.

SOUTH AFRICA ELECT TO BAT
Two battered teams stepped out to battle it out for their first points in the TVS Cup in Dhaka on Monday. Bangladesh are trying to break a long run of losses while South Africa aim to get into the winning habit. Graeme Smith made a bright beginning, winning the toss and electing to bat.

Bangladesh, after their 200-run loss at the hands of India, made wholesale changes to their side. Opener Mehrab Hossain has been left out in place of Javed Omar, Tushar Imran comes in for Habibul Bashar and Tareq Aziz replaces Manjural Islam.

The South Africans made one change to their side that lost to India by 153 runs on Sunday, bringing specialist spinner Paul Adams into the side in place of Robin Peterson.

The wicket looks to be the best one of the tournament so far. The groundsmen have worked hard with the heavy roller and there’s a sheen to the surface. It’s hot, humid and there’s a hint of a breeze wafting across the ground.

Teams:

South Africa: 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Boeta Dippenaar, 5 Neil McKenzie, 6 Charl Willoughby, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Paul Adams, 10 Allan Dawson, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Bangladesh: 1 Mohammad Ashraful, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 Alok Kapali, 5 Khaled Mashud (wk), 6 Akram Khan, 7 Sanwar Hossain, 8 Khaled Mahmud (wk), 9 Mohammad Rafique, 10 Tapash Baisya, 11 Tareq Aziz.