Johannesburg - Dean Elgar’s 20th Test half-century, gave the Proteas the advantage in the first session of the opening Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead on Thursday.
South Africa, desperate for a good start, after struggling in that department for a number of years, would have been delighted to go into lunch on 95/0.
Elgar, who was particularly dominant in the first hour against erratic bowling from Bangladesh’s quicks, will resume on 60 not out while Sarel Erwee, who found batting slightly harder is on 32.
The Proteas gave debuts to Ryan Rickelton and Lizaad Williams as they sought to fill in some of the gaps left by the departures of four players for the Indian Premier League.
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In addition, Simon Harmer was also chosen to start a Test for the first time in six and half years, and at the same time created a bit of history as he and Keshav Maharaj became the first frontline spinners to start a Test in South Africa in the post-isolation period.
Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque won the toss and on a grassy surface understandably chose to bowl. The presence of grass is somewhat unusual in recent times at Kingsmead, which has become a haven for spin bowlers in the last few years.
However the Bangladeshis, Shakib Al-Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman and Shofriful Islam, who were among the prominent performers in their historic series win in the One-Day series last week, were all missing from the side that started in Durban.
The Bangladeshi seamers struggled to find the right length on what was a helpful surface, allowing Elgar in particular far too many boundary balls in the first hour.
𝐋![CDATA[]]>𝐔![CDATA[]]>𝐍![CDATA[]]>𝐂![CDATA[]]>𝐇 - 𝐃![CDATA[]]>𝐀![CDATA[]]>𝐘 𝟏:
It’s been all Proteas at Kingsmead. Dean Elgar finishes the first session unbeaten on 60, while Sarel Erwee is on 32. They have a 95-run partnership.
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The start of play was delayed by 34 minutes, with Kingsmead ground staff struggling to find a white sheet to throw over the electronic portion of the sightscreen which had malfunctioned. It was embarrassing for a union which last hosted a Test in 2019.
Taskin Ahmed too, started in embarrassing fashion delivering a thigh high full toss with the first ball of the match that Elgar popped through midwicket for four. There were too many leg-stump half volleys, and at one stage Ebadot Hossain tried a short ball plan, but got his line wrong allowing Elgar to hit some easy fours through the off-side.
Bangladesh had their best period after the morning drinks break, with Erwee being put under pressure by Taskin who bowled the best ball of the morning, a delivery that seamed across the left-hander beating the bat for just the second time in the session.
Elgar’s half century included nine fours and was scored off only 60 balls - an indication of how poorly the Bangladeshis bowled.
They did create one chance in the final over before lunch when off-spinner Mehidy Hasan, found the outside edge of Erwee’s bat, but Litton Das, the wicketkeeper, dropped the catch.