Smith enforces follow-on with Bangladesh on the rack

The Proteas could be on the golf course tomorrow. Their Test match against Bangladesh, scheduled to end on Sunday, already looks all over.

Yesterday the South Africans declared on 441 for nine, only because last man Paul Harris was unable to bat because of a cracked left thumb. They dismissed Bangladesh for 153, and Graeme Smith enforced the follow-on. With centuries from Smith and Hashim Amla, the South Africans were ensured of a good start, which was wasted by some profligate batting down the order. Apart from Ashwell Prince, who was unbeaten on 59, the other South African batsmen played with some abandon. Eight wickets fell for 114 when the Bangladesh bowlers staged an impressive fightback on the second day of this first Test, being played in Bloemfontein. Shakib-Al-Hasan, the 21-year-old Bangladesh left-arm spinner, took his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket, even though he was expensive; he conceded 130 runs. Last month he got seven for 36 in the first Test against New Zealand, played in Chittagong, where the Kiwis won by three wickets. It was obvious from the start of play yesterday that conditions would suit the bowlers, especially the swing bowlers. Dale Steyn was the first to reveal just how the conditions could be exploited by removing Tamim Iqbal’s off stump before the batsmen knew what was happening. From then onwards it was a procession of Bangladesh batsmen arriving, then leaving the wicket. The only one who stayed around for a while was the 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, who made 48 off 63 balls, hitting nine fours. His innings was ended when Jacques Kallis came on and trapped him leg before. Kallis wrapped up a tail, which put on 65 runs. Shahadat Hossain, who bats at No 11, made 23. He and Rahim put on 60. But not all the South African bowlers thrived. Morné Morkel again struggled with wides, starting with a series of leg-side deliveries but, with the final ball of his opening over, got Junaid Siddique into a tangle with a shorter ball and lobbed the ball to gulley of the leading edge.

Sports Staff and cricinfo

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