DT
26 Sport
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015
Mustafiz glows bright in spotlight 1
n Minhaz Uddin Khan from Chittagong Bangladesh wonder-kid Mustafizur Rahman continued to impress in international cricket as he ended up taking four wickets on debut on the opening day of the first of two Test matches against South Africa at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday. In the process, he became only the third Bangladesh bowler after ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza and national discard Ziaur Rahman to pick up that many wickets on Test debut. More than the wickets itself, the way the 19-year old grabbed his scalps attracted all the attention. And even though he was quiet for the majority of the first day’s play, he created all the difference between the two sides when he came on to bowl the 60th over. His impact was felt so hard that the visitors lost three wickets in four balls of that eventful over. Yesterday was the third time in his 10 international outings so far did Mustafiz appear at the post-day press conference and if the first two appearances were any indication, he was expected to be shy. However, Test heroics are a bit more special than anything else so it was only normal when he answered every question with a broad smile. “It feels good when you get wickets in such a manner but it is never fun to field for one-and-a-half or two days. I was happy for the [four] wickets,” Mustafiz told the media when asked to describe his feelings on the achievement. Yesterday, Mustafiz missed out on a hattrick for the third time recently but he informed that he was not disheartened. Rather, he was prizing his four-wicket haul, especial-
IN NUMBERS Number of previous instances where each of South Africa’s top-three batsmen made 30-plus scores without getting to 50. Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl and Faf du Plessis were dismissed on 47, 34 and 48 respectively. The only previous time this happened was against West Indies in 2010.
0
Number of Tests umpire Joel Wilson previously officiated. However, he has stood in 21 ODIs and 16 T20Is. He is the first Test umpire from the West Indies since Billy Doctrove, who last officiated a Test match in the year 2012.
98
Number of consecutive Tests played by AB de Villiers, the most for any South African player. The Chittagong match was the first Test de Villiers was missing for South Africa, and he holds the record for the most consecutive Tests from debut.
4-37
Mustafizur Rahman’s figures in the first innings, the second best by a Bangladesh fast bowler on Test debut. Manjural Islam had figures of 6 for 81 against Zimbabwe in 2001.
86
ly the ones of wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock and South African captain Hashim Amla. “I like it when I see wickets flying and a pacer is supposed to feel good about it. So yeah, I had enjoyed that dismissal (De Kock). But if you ask me, the biggest wicket from the four was Amla’s,” he said. A medium-pacer by trade, Mustafiz has shown remarkable improvements in recent times, most notably increasing his pace.
THE UNLUCKY WORK-HORSE
Among the 17.4 overs that he bowled yesterday, the left-armer touched the 141kmphmark on several occasions. When queried to give the reasons behind his increase in speed, the soft-spoken Satkhira lad said, “I think I had bowled at 141 once [yesterday]. I have worked hard and regularly in the gym and there has also been some good training with the coaches. I have also worked hard while training in the High-Performance camp.”l
1
Number of innings in which no South African batsman has made a 50-plus score against Bangladesh - at Dhaka in 2008. Temba Bavuna scored 54 in South Africa’s first innings to prevent a second such instance.
‘Mustafiz turned the game’ n Tribune Report
Bangladesh’s right-arm paceman Mohammad Shahid’s wicket-less figures do not speak of the damage he did to South Africa in Chittagong yesterday. He bowled 51 dot balls, including seven consecutive maidens, to halt the Proteas’ run-scoring as the visitors eventually crumbled to the pressure. Shahid could have had two wickets but Imrul Kayes spilled both the opportunities at slip MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK
South Africa’s average opening stand against Bangladesh, their best against any team in Tests. South Africa’s openers have posted a 50-plus stand against Bangladesh in six out of ten innings. Elgar and Van Zyl put on 58 in Chittagong..
Temba Bavuma’s career best 54 restored some solidity in the South African side that were restricted to 248 in their first innings of the first Test against Bangladesh yesterday. Despite 58 and 78 runs coming off the first two partnerships, the visitors found themselves facing a threat of getting bowled out below 200 on the first day. Bavuma, the first black African batsman picked in South Africa’s Test squad ever, found himself in a difficult transition period when the Proteas collapsed from 136-2 to 1736 with Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock returning in the space of four Mustafizur Rahman deliveries. But Bavuma, who highest Test score before the match was 15, kept is head still and batted with maturity to help his team reach 248. He repeatedly praised the Bangladeshi debutant Mustafiz and termed the 19-year old “world class”. “We were not able to build the momentum in favor of us and we were not mentally strong today (yesterday) and I think it can happen in cricket. I think losing three wickets in an over has been the turning point and since then we totally lost the momentum. And after that they continued to build pressure on us and we were not able to make a comeback and I think it was a brilliant over from Mustafiz,” Bavuma said during the post-day conference at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The last South African wicket to fall on the first day, Bavuma struck five fours in his 108-ball innings. He felt the pitch was getting slower and the ball was not coming onto the bat. Bavuma, who is also a wicket-keeper, believes they will be stronger when they come out today. “It was not the best day for us and the Bangladesh team were at their best regarding their skills but we are willing to make a comeback tomorrow (today) but I must say the home side were brilliant and the left-arm pacer was world class,” said the 25-year old. l
South Africa’s Temba Bavuma sweeps during his career-best 54 at ZACS yesterday MI MANIK