Plays of the day: Elgar misses 200, Liton forced to open and third time lucky Maharaj

Elgar misses out on double tonDean Elgar missed out on a double hundred by just one run, thus becoming only the 12th batsman in Test history to get out on 199 runs. The other 11 batsmen are – Pakistan’s Mudassar Nazar and Younis Khan, India’s Mohammad  Azharuddin and Lokesh Rahul, Australia’s Matthew Elliott, Steve Smith and Steve Waugh, Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara, Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower and England’s Ian Bell. The left-handed South Africa opener ended day one unbeaten on 128 and added 71 more on day two and came agonisingly close to his first ever double hundred. But Bangladesh seamer Mustafizur Rahman picked up his wicket in the 131st over. Mustafizur banged it short in the line of outside off and Elgar was unable to get on top of the bounce. Mid-wicket fielder Mominul Haque grabbed an easy catch following his weak pull shot. Elgar was actually caught in two minds - between pulling and leaving. He did a bit of both and ended up paying the price. And so, Elgar’s magnificent innings finished on a disappointing note.

Dean Elgar (199) and Aiden Markram (97) are the first pair of openers to get out in 190s and 90s in a Test innings. #SAvBAN

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) September 29, 2017

Liton forced to open the innings with ImrulBangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal went off the field for around 49 minutes before the tea break and South Africa captain Faf du Plessis suddenly declared the innings following the interval. According to the laws of cricket, since Tamim was out of the field for 49mins, he couldn’t bat for the same duration after the start of Bangladesh’s innings. And that’s why Bangladesh were forced to deploy Liton Kumar Das alongside Imrul Kayes for the opening slot. After keeping wickets for 146 overs, it was a tough ask for Liton. The right-hander initially managed to spend some time in the middle, playing a couple of beautiful pull shots against fast bowler Morne Morkel. But eventually he lost his wicket to Morkel, edging a delivery outside off to first slip. Liton scored 25 off 29 deliveries with four boundaries.Maharaj third time luckyTigers Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim got two lives in his innings on day two. On both the occasions, Elgar dropped him at first slip. And both the times, the unfortunate bowler was Keshav Maharaj. The first dropped chance came in the first ball of the 16th over. It was a dream delivery from the left-arm spinner but Elgar put down a straightforward catch. Length ball, spinning away, Mushfiq closed the face of the bat against the turn and produced a healthy edge that popped out of Elgar's hand and hit his chin. Mushfiq was batting on six then. The second chance came in the third ball of the 18th over. It was a straightforward chance yet again. The delivery spun away off a length just about enough to find the outside edge of Mushfiq. It slightly grazed the glove of Quinton de Kock and that may have upset Elgar's judgement as he missed it again. Mushfiq was on 15 then.