by teaSouth Africa 205 for 1 (de Zorzi 101*, Stubbs 65*) v Bangladesh
So far they have managed to keep South Africa temporarily calm, but not long enough. Nahid Rana, the great close-order player, was the first choice of her attack, using hard lengths and test lines but giving up the wicket. Hasan Mahmud was the bowler who could have had de Zorzi, dropped at slip by debutant wicketkeeper Mahidul Islam in the morning session and by Shadman Islam in the afternoon session.
Markram’s dismissal allowed Bangladesh to pull back. They didn’t concede for 21 balls as Tristan Stubbs played himself. He scored his first four as he put Miraz behind but then Bangladesh applied the pressure again. A further 28 balls were bowled in just 14 runs before de Zorzi increased South Africa’s century with a magnificent cover drive.
Hasan missed de Zorzi’s edge with his next ball for the second time this session, but de Zorzi survived. He went to lunch one ahead of a third Test fifty and reached it in the over after the break. But this was a difficult time for South Africa and they managed 91 deliveries between boundaries while controlling Nahid Rana’s pace – which reached up to 147.7km/h – and the hint of a turnaround that Taijul spotted. Nahid’s lengths were improved compared to the fuller ones he had used in the morning and he got caught on the back of a length, which proved difficult.
Stubbs broke the shackles in the over before the afternoon drinks break when he hit Hasan Mahmud for the fourth time from a back point. Two balls later, de Zorzi pushed Hasan through the hands of Shadman Islam at first slip, almost allowing Hasan to open the scoring for the second time. Still, after lunch, de Zorzi and South Africa endured a period in which they scored just 34 runs in 13 overs, and then things picked up a bit for them.
The next eight overs brought 32 runs at a healthier scoring rate and Stubbs brought his second Test fifty. Taijul thought he had been caught behind in the next over and Bangladesh checked, but replays showed a clear gap between bat and ball. Stubbs then hit Mehidy Hasan Miraz over the screen for six, and de Zorzi followed suit as he headed into the over Ninety came in by sending Taijul over the ball with a long-on. He reached his hundredth with a swinging shot past Miraz through the square and celebrated his success to warm applause from the dugout, which included injured captain Temba Bavuma. De Zorzi became only the second black African batsman from South Africa after Bavuma to score a Test hundred.
