Stumps Bangladesh 106 and 101 for 3 (Mahmood 38*, Mushfiq 31*, Rabada 2-10) South Africa 308 (Vereen 114, Mulder 54, Taijul 5-122, Mehmood 3-66, Mahidi 2-63) by 101 runs

Seven balls after the light meter was brought out for the first time on the second day, the umpires pulled the plug on the day’s play due to poor lighting. If it was somewhat sudden, the third umpire’s decision that took time to come added to the drama of what turned out to be the final delivery of the day.

On 38, Mahmoodul Hasan Joy decided to go outside the crease to Dan Pedt and his wild swing missed the ball. The ball bounced a fair bit, and wicketkeeper Kyle Vereen collected it in front of his right shoulder and whipped the bulls. The TV umpire watched multiple replays and concluded that Mahmudul was not out – the bat was behind the line but in the air, but appeared to have picked up once grounded. Verreynne’s expression showed just how tight it was.

The day belonged to Vereen, who scored his second Test century in the afternoon session. This, combined with a maiden half-century from Wian Moulder and resistance from Pedt at No. 10, took South Africa to 308, although they were 108 for 6 at one stage. And with a first-innings lead of 202, Kagiso Rabada struck twice in the second innings to take Bangladesh to 4 for 2, before Mahmoodul Hasan, Najamul Hussain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim fought back. Back.

Shadman Islam and Momin-ul-Haq fell to single-digit scores inside the first four overs for the second time in as many days, as Rabada produced plenty of pace and bounce with the new ball. His wickets came on a long ball. In the third over, he got a pinch to Shadman, who went inside to short leg, where Tony De Zorzi took a quick catch to his left. Three balls later, Mominol defended but got an outside edge at third slip, where Mulder went down to catch a dipping ball.

Mahmudul and Shantu added 55 to rebuild briefly, before Keshav Maharaj trapped Shantu in front. Maharaj got a full delivery to come in from outside off, and Shantu, who had opened his stance to defend, was hit on the back leg, which was being dragged outside off.

Mushfiqur then made 31 off 26 balls and an unbeaten stand of 42 with Mahmudul ensured no further damage was done, although Bangladesh were still 101 runs behind South Africa.

Varene got the advantage that South Africa took. He swept every other ball that came his way and finally when he missed a ball, he was stumped by Latin Das. This ended South Africa’s innings at 308 but by then Vereen had reached his century. He took just 144 balls to score 114 runs, becoming only the third wicket-keeper batsman from his country to score a Test century in Asia. Fittingly, the landmark came in the 86th over off Taijul Islam’s paddle sweep.

Both of Vereine’s sixes came after he had passed the three-figure mark: one a slog sweep off the wicketless Naeem Hasan, and the other a pull-out to Mehdi Hasan Miraz. Just before that, Mehedi had broken a disappointing stand of 66 for the ninth wicket. Pedt, who batted strongly, reached a solid 32 before being caught in front off the 87th ball. It was changed and given out on the field. Piedt reviewed, and he reversed the umpire’s call. And soon after Vereen’s second six, Mehedi slows the ball so that he is stumped.

Earlier, the pair of Vereen and Mulder took their seventh-wicket stand of 119 overnight. The pitch seemed to settle well for batting on the second morning, with no obvious turn available for Taijul. Vereen looked particularly confident against Hasan Mehmood, who had started the day with Taijul, flicking the pacer over mid-on for three, and clipped it to the boundary.

Tejul then poked Mulder, only for the outside edge to slip away. This had as much to do with Mulder’s soft-handed playing as the laziness of the surface. Mulder and Verreynne adjusted the pitch, and worked comfortably against the spin of Tejul and Naeem.

Both batsmen used sweeps and reverse sweeps, yet Naeem turned the ball admirably on this occasion. It was down to him to step up to the delivery pitch and play his shots with confidence. He played 38 sweeps – or reverse sweeps – against spin on the second morning, and scored 59 runs that included seven fours and a six.

Bangladesh posted a man closely at square leg to prevent the batsmen from getting easy runs from clean sweeps, and yet Vereen completed his half-century when he drilled a man there. Mulder then completed his half-century at the start of the 64th over, when he cut Naeem behind for four.

Shanto brought Mehmood back into the attack, and he landed a series of blows. First, he pitched outside off on back-off length, the ball holding its line. Mulder goes for a punch, but goes for a wide slip. Next ball, Mahmood flipped the ball into Maharaj in a very rich fashion and beat his defense to pull off the off-stump.

But Pedt, who was next in line, not only denied Mahmood a hat-trick, but also angered Bangladesh.

Himanshu Agarwal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo.



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