Dominant South Africa as Bangladesh ponder what might have been

South Africa batsmen made a commanding start in the first of the two-match Test series as they posted 298 runs for the loss of one wicket at stumps on day one against Bangladesh at Senwes Park Thursday. Opener Dean Elgar remained not out on 128 while No 3 batsman Hashim Amla was unbeaten on 68. The only success of the day came for Bangladesh in the 55th over when debutant Aiden Markram was run out after scoring 97.

Stumps, Day 1. #SAvBAN pic.twitter.com/iDxCXxUw2i

— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) September 28, 2017

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim used seven bowlers, including part-timers Sabbir Rahman and Mominul Haque but was unable to initiate any more breakthroughs. Tigers opener Soumya Sarkar was not fully fit after sustaining an injury during the practice match last week against Cricket South Africa XI. Wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar Das replaced Soumya and the former also kept wickets instead of Mushfiq.

.@AidzMarkram on @deanelgar as a cricketer. #ProteaFire #SAvBAN pic.twitter.com/6YSoswPpsv

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) September 28, 2017

The day started on a surprising note as Mushfiq won the toss and elected to field first. The pitch was more whitish compared to the traditional greenish South African wickets. But Mushfiq opted to field, which was even surprising to opponent captain Faf du Plessis as well. Du Plessis said later that he would have batted first if he had won the toss. Both Elgar and Markram batted confidently in the morning session as they remained unbeaten at lunch. The two openers were batting so comfortably and calmly that Bangladesh had to wait until the 32nd over to appeal for a dismissal. Markram’s brilliant debut innings ended with an unlucky run out.

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Also read: Misjudgment of pitch or defensive approach?

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The incident happened in the 55th over. Both Elgar and Markram were inching closer to their hundreds. Elgar was batting on 99 and Markram 97. Elgar pushed the ball towards short point and tried to take a single. Markram responded but when Elgar called “no”, Markram was already down the halfway of the pitch. And eventually, Mehedi Hasan Miraz did the rest. The opening stand ended on 196. This was the Proteas’ best opening stand in 17 innings.

"I am more than happy with 97. If you had asked me yesterday that I will get that score I would have taken it."- A. Markram pic.twitter.com/4FDlN7xdyY

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) September 28, 2017

Markram struck some delightful shots in his 97-run innings. He smashed 13 boundaries and become only the third batsman in Test history to get run out in the nervous 90s on debut after Abdul Qadir of Pakistan and Gordon Greenidge of the West Indies. However, Elgar soon picked up his ninth Test hundred in the same over. The left-hander struck nine boundaries and two sixes during his unbeaten innings. The South Africa No 3 Amla was fluent and elegant from the very beginning and played some beautiful shots all around the park. Amla blasted seven boundaries and a huge six over long-on during his unbeaten 68-run innings. Bangladesh need to take early wickets on day two’s morning session, otherwise a 500-600 first innings total is well expected, which will create pressure on Bangladesh’s batting line-up.BRIEF SCORESouth Africa 298/1 in 90 overs (Elgar 128*, Markram 97, Amla 68*)SquadsBangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (C), Liton Das (WK), Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam and Mustafizur Rahman

South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and  Duanne Olivier