Bangladesh Struggle to Avoid Innings Defeat After Kyle Verreynne’s Brilliant 114
Bangladesh is fighting to avoid an innings loss after South Africa’s Kyle Verreynne struck an incredible century in the first Test match in Mirpur.
Centurion Kyle Verreynne of South Africa remarked, “It is probably the toughest conditions I have played under in terms of heat and humidity.”
Bangladesh scored 101-3 at the end of Tuesday’s play, but they still needed 101 runs to have South Africa bat again. Mushfiqur Rahim (31) and Mahmudul Hasan Joy (38) maintained their undefeated record with a vital 42-run partnership for the fourth wicket. In addition, Mushfiqur became the first person from Bangladesh to reach 6,000 Test runs in his career.
“It is probably the toughest conditions I have played under in terms of heat and humidity,” Verreynne stated.
“It was just against the spin for 90% of that innings. Things move swiftly. From the perspective of concentration, you don’t have much time to reset. Without a doubt, this was my most fruitful innings.
Shadman Islam was caught at short leg for one in the third over, and Bangladesh lost two early wickets to fast-moving Kagiso Rabada in response. The hosts were left hanging on 19-2 before tea as Mominul Haque edged three balls later and Wiaan Mulder made a fine catch at third slip for naught.
After an exhausting 23 off 49 balls, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was bowled out by Keshav Maharaj. Mahmudul went for a crazy slog and missed the ball, evading a stumping just in time, costing Bangladesh another wicket at the end of the day.
After hitting eight fours and two sixes in his 114, Verreynne was the final man out in South Africa’s opening innings. In response to Bangladesh’s first innings of 106, he and Mulder put on 119 for the seventh wicket, with Mulder scoring 54.
The pair resumed play at 140-6, and it was South Africa’s greatest seventh-wicket stand against Bangladesh. Verreynne and Dane Piedt shared a 66-run partnership for the ninth wicket before Piedt was sent out leg before wicket by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
As South Africa added 103 runs in the morning session, Bangladesh’s Hasan Mahmud, a fast bowler, was the lone bright spot, taking two wickets in two balls in the 65th over.
“Test cricket is like that,” Hasan responded when asked how the hosts had allowed 200 runs to be scored for the final four wickets.
“In those circumstances, bowlers’ attention becomes to controlling the run flow and applying pressure to the batsmen. The key is to stay true to the fundamentals. The innings was finally over when Verreynne was stumped after facing 144 balls, with Hasan finishing with 3-66 and Mehidy with 2-63.
After winning the toss and opting to bat, Bangladesh fell apart, as Rabada became the fastest player to reach 300 Test wickets on Monday. With a final score of 5-122, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam became the second Bangladeshi player to reach 200 Test wickets, behind Shakib Al Hasan.
The second of the two-match series starts in Chattogram on October 29. Bangladesh has never defeated South Africa in a Test match.
