Bangladesh’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Hasan Mahmud speaks during the press conference at Press club of India, in New Delhi on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Bangladesh vs South Africa, 1st Test Day 4, Live Updates© AFP

Bangladesh cricket team fast bowler Hasan Mahmud was involved in a bizarre incident during Day 2 of the first Test match against South Africa in Dhaka on Tuesday. During the 69th over of the South Africa innings, Dane Piedt slammed a low full-toss directly back to Mahmud who deflected it off his right hand onto the stumps. While Kyle Verreynne was safe on the non-striker’s end, Piedt decided to go for a risky run before realising his mistake and turning back midway. Mahmud went for the direct hit on the batter’s end but ended up hitting Piedt with his throw to leave the Bangladesh fielders disappointed.

A century from wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne powered South Africa to 308 all out and a first-innings lead of 202 on Tuesday in the first Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur.

Kagiso Rabada then took two quick wickets as Bangladesh were reduced to 19-2 at tea on the second day, still needing 183 to avoid an innings defeat.

Shadman Islam was first to go, caught at short leg in the third over.

Three balls later, Mominul Haque edged and Wiaan Mulder took a sharp catch at third slip.

Hasan Mahmud’s direct hit:

Stumps.

Batter.pic.twitter.com/ngZsil8wop

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 22, 2024

Verreynne was last man out in South Africa’s first innings after scoring eight fours and two sixes in his 114. 

He put on 119 for the seventh wicket with Mulder, who made 54, in reply to Bangladesh’s first innings of 106.

It was South Africa’s highest seventh-wicket stand against Bangladesh, after the pair resumed at 140-6 at the start of play. 

Dane Piedt, dismissed lbw for 32 by Mehidy Hasan Miraz, partnered Verreynne in a stand of 66 runs for the ninth wicket. 

Bangladesh quick bowler Hasan Mahmud took two wickets in two balls in the 65th over, the only spot of brightness in a morning session where South Africa added 103.

A sharp delivery on off stump induced Mulder to edge to Shadman Islam at slip, then Hasan sent Keshav Maharaj‘s off stump flying with a reverse-swinging delivery that ducked back late to beat the bat.

Hasan finished with 3-66 and Mehidy 2-63, finally wrapping up the innings when Verreynne was stumped after facing 144 balls.

On Monday, South Africa quick bowler Kagiso Rabada had become the fastest to reach 300 Test wickets as Bangladesh collapsed after winning the toss and choosing to bat.

Rabada reached the landmark in 11,817 balls, beating the previous best by Pakistan’s Waqar Younis of 12,602 deliveries.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam passed 200 Test wickets as he finished with 5-122, only the second Bangladeshi to achieve the feat after Shakib Al Hasan. 

Bangladesh have never beaten South Africa in a Test and second of the two-match series begins in Chattogram on October 29. 

(With AFP inputs)

Bangladesh vs South Africa, 1st Test Day 2, Live Updates© AFP

Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud joined the elite company of pacers alongside South African legend Dale Steyn to have four wickets as a visiting pacer on day one of a Test match in India since year 2000. Mahmud accomplished this feat during the first Test against India at Chennai’s MA Chidambram Stadium. The bowler delivered a scorching spell on first day, taking 4/58 in 18 overs at an economy rate of 3.20. The bowler got rid of a star-studded top-order consisting of skipper Rohit Sharma (6), Shubman Gill (0), Virat Kohli (6), and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (39).

Earlier, back in 2008, Steyn had taken 5/23 against India at Ahmedabad, bundling out India for just 76 runs in their first inning and helping Proteas seal a win by an innings and 90 runs.

Coming to the match, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first. The top-order collapsed and India was left at 34/3. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (56 in 118 balls, with nine fours) and Rishabh Pant (39 in 52 balls, with six fours) stitched a 62-run partnership for the fourth wicket, bringing India into the game. After India was reduced to 144/6, Ashwin and Jadeja (86* in 117 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes) stitched a 195-run partnership, ending the day at 339/6.

Hasan Mahmud (4/58) was the top bowler for Bangladesh, destroying the Indian top order, removing skipper Rohit Sharma (6), Shubman Gill (0) and Virat Kohli (6).

Teams:

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.

Seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin sparkled on home turf with his sixth Test hundred as he combined with Ravindra Jadeja to steer India out of trouble and post a formidable 339 for six on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh here on Thursday. Ashwin (102 batting) and Jadeja (86 batting) added 195 runs (174 minutes, 225 balls) for a riveting unbroken seventh wicket stand after young pacer Hasan Mahmud (4/58) reduced India to 144 for six, despite Yashasvi Jaiswal making a solid 56.

The ebb and flow of the day’s proceedings was quite remarkable and mostly revolved around Ashwin, Jadeja and Mahmud, who made his Test debut in March this year and was just three games old in the format before this match.

In a stunning first spell of 5-2-6-3, the 24-year-old Mahmud accounted for the cream of Indian top-order — Rohit Sharma (6), Shubman Gill (0) and Virat Kohli (6) — before snapping Rishabh Pant‘s return to Test cricket (39 off 52 balls) in the initial moments of the second session.

KL Rahul, another Indian batter who is re-entering the Indian Test establishment, fell for 16 to off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz as fortune’s pendulum stayed firmly in Bangladesh’s quarter.

But then came the two gladiators who know Chepauk like the back of their hand — Ashwin by birth and Jadeja through his long association with the Chennai Super Kings.

One more wicket at that stage would have extended the dominance of Bangladesh, but such thoughts hardly disturbed Ashwin and Jadeja.

Ashwin went off the blocks with a flurry of boundaries, a firm validation of his oh-so-smooth timing born out of fluent hand movement through shots and precise footwork.

There was this ramp shot off Mahmud, who tried to rattle Ashwin with a short-pitched delivery that climbed onto his body.

But the veteran player arched himself back ever so slightly to gain space to execute the ramp over the slip — fabulous in conceptualisation and execution.

At times, he scored at a strike rate in excess of 100 and was not hesitant to travel the more uncultured way. A slog sweep that went for six over mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Shakib Al-Hasan testified that.

Jadeja was a tad different in his approach. Sensing that Ashwin was in good touch, the left-hander had the simple job of keeping his end going and he did that with minimum fuss.

A past master in operating from behind the giant shadows of superstars, Jadeja looked extremely comfortable doing that once more, providing the assurance Ashwin needed.

But there were moments, the showman in Jadeja came forth and Shakib was the aggrieved party, getting hammered for three fours.

Bangladesh’s star of the day Mahmud, too was not spared as Jadeja, who raised his fifty off 73 balls, played a drag-pull off the pacer to send him for a six.

Other times, he wing-heeled across the pitch for those ones and twos to keep the Bangladesh bowlers frustrated.

The spectators eventually witnessed the moment that they had been waiting for when Ashwin reached the hundred with a single off Shakib, and they welcomed it with applause, cheers and loud bugling.

It was his second consecutive hundred at his home ground after going past the three-figure mark here against England in 2021. And it could not have come at a better time as well.

But before the epic fightback, the Indian innings resembled a crumbling rampart. It’s not often that a team winning the toss would elect to bowl first here as that translates into a fourth-innings chase.

But Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto bit the bullet while going against the trend, and was rewarded for it too.

Rohit, who was saved by DRS when he was on 1, was the first to depart.

The Indian skipper had little choice other than playing a wobble seam delivery that came at him on a tight angle as he edged to Shanto at second slip.

Gill lasted just eight balls but he would count himself unlucky, feathering Mahumd’s down the leg side delivery to stumper Litton Das.

Kohli walked into the Chepauk amid loud cheers and looked confident. But an old failing resurfaced to haunt him.

Mahmud pitched one just short of the length outside the off-stump, and the length was not suitable for a drive.

But the star batter chose to play an expansive one with the ball nestling in Litton’s gloves after taking a healthy edge off his bat.

Jaiswal and Pant added 62 runs for the fourth wicket to temporarily check the free fall before both perished in close succession in the middle session.

Bangladesh might have thought the effort was good enough to keep the home side flat on the ropes, but Ashwin and Jadeja made them wiser as to why it is so tough to keep India on the back-foot at home for long.

Bangladesh cricket team fast bowler Hasan Mahmud was in tremendous form as he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli on Day 1 of the first Test match against India in Chennai on Thursday. There was some assistance for the bowlers in the first session and Mahmud took full advantage. The fast bowler struck first in the fifth over of the match as Rohit ended up hitting the ball straight to Najmul Hossain Shanto in second slip. Two overs later, he struck again as Gill ended up chasing a ball outside leg-stump and was caught behind the stumps. Mahmud’s golden run continued as he took the wicket of Kohli as the star India batter was caught behind by Litton Das for just 6.

The 24-year-old fast bowler has impressed both fans and experts since making his international debut in March 2020. Mahmud mostly featured in white-ball cricket for Bangladesh before finally making his Test debut against Sri Lanka earlier in 2024. 

Mahmud tasted success right away as he registered his maiden five-wicket haul in the second Test match against Pakistan. He played a big role in Bangladesh winning the Test series 2-0.

Before the Chennai Test, he had 14 wickets in three Test matches at an average of 25. He also has 30 wickets in ODIs and 18 wickets in T20I cricket. 

Coming to the match, India took lunch at 88-3. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, on 37, and returning wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, on 33, were batting at the break.

India’s openers started cautiously, with skipper Rohit Sharma getting his first run on the 11th delivery, after surviving a few close calls.

Rohit smashed Hasan for the first boundary of the match but the bowler had his revenge in the next over when he got the skipper caught at second slip to break through.

Rohit made six.

Shubman Gill survived just eight deliveries before being caught behind for a duck when he attempted a flick down the leg side.

Kohli got off the mark with a single amid loud cheers from the crowd.

But the noise soon stopped when the former captain edged a length delivery outside the off-stump from Hasan to wicketkeeper Litton Das.

It was a disappointing first outing for Kohli, who scored six on his return to the Test side, after missing his team’s 4-1 home win over England in March.

With three wickets inside the first hour, India slipped to 34-3. 

Pant, playing his first Test after a near-fatal car crash in 2022, then stood firm with fellow left-hander Jaiswal and put together 54 runs.

Virat Kohli failed to impress on his home Test return as he was dismissed for just 6 on Day 1 of the first Test match between India and Bangladesh in Chennai on Thursday. This was Virat’s first Test match on Indian soil since March 2023 and he received a rousing ovation when he came out to bat at the M Chidambaram Stadium. However, he ended up playing a loose shot outside the off-stump to hand Hasan Mahmud his third wicket of the match. The delivery went flying off Virat’s outside edge and wicket-keeper Litton Das made no mistake in completing the catch behind the stumps. Rohit was visibly upset by the developments as India lost three wickets early in the first session.

Virat Kohli’s Dismissal

Edged and gone

King’s Rare failure#IndVsBan#ViratKohli

pic.twitter.com/ebQ2OPbWaT

— Berzabb (@Berzabb) September 19, 2024

Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bowl.

“I’d like to bowl first. There’s moisture on the wicket and we want to make use of it. The pitch looks hard and there’s moisture. The first session will be very good for the seamers. The way we played that series (against Pakistan), we are confident. This is a new series, we’ll have to follow our processes. It’s a good mixture of experience and youth. We will go with three seamers and two spin allrounders,” Shanto said.

Virat kohli got out & the crowd is still cheering.

Reason : Rishabh pant #CricketUpdatespic.twitter.com/KmFI59xjjO

— Rp17 (@HarshadSarode13) September 19, 2024

India skipper Rohit Sharma said that they would have bowled as well if he won the toss.

“I would have done that as well (bowl first). Little soft, the pitch. It’s going to be challenging conditions. We have prepared well, so we should back our potential and play the way we know. Looking at the 10 Test matches, every match is important. But we want to focus on what lies in front of us. We came here a week back, we had a good prep leading up to this one. We feel confident. Three seamers and two spinners – Bumrah, Akash Deep, Siraj, Ashwin and Jadeja,” Rohit said.

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.

(With ANI inputs)