da dobrowin： Kallis’ 5 for 30 saw Bangladesh collapse to 182 all out, and solid knocksfrom Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla got them to within 27 of the 205 neededbefore the victory push was halted by bad light
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran24-Feb-2008
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Jacques Kallis picked up five wickets as Bangladesh were bowled out for 182 © AFP
In the four years since he last took five wickets in a Test innings,Jacques Kallis has cemented his position as one of the batting greats ofthe modern age, but it was an inspired eight-over spell on the thirdmorning at the National Stadium in Mirpur that went a long way towardsdestroying Bangladeshi hopes of an epochal victory.Kallis’ 5 for 30 triggered a collapse to 182 all out, and solid knocksfrom Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla got them to within 27 of the 205 neededbefore the victory push was halted by bad light. Shahadat Hossain, whostarred with 6 for 27 in the first innings, and Mohammad Rafique induced alate-afternoon wobble, but dour batting from Ashwell Prince and AB deVilliers shut the door in the final overs of the day.As ever, Kallis bowled a heavy ball and got just enough movement to worrybatsmen on a pitch that showed further signs of wear and tear. In thespace of four balls midway through the morning session, the complexion ofthe match turned utterly. Dale Steyn had probed away while Makhaya Ntinihad again been disappointing, and as the fifth-wicket partnership betweenJunaid Siddique and Aftab Ahmad swelled to 63, Smith was running out ofoptions.Instead of Mornè Morkel, he threw the ball to Kallis, and the breakthroughcame with the fifth ball he bowled. The line was perfect, and there wasjust enough deviation away to take the outside edge as Siddique sparreduncertainly. He had batted 184 balls to equal his previous highest of 74,and his exit was a serious blow to hopes of setting a big target.Three balls later, the innings was in disarray. Aftab had previouslysurvived a vociferous shout after padding up to Ntini, but when he did thesame to a Steyn delivery that darted back, the umpire wasn’t in charitablemood. Aftab had eschewed his attacking instincts during a sober innings,but like Mohammad Ashraful, his captain, he couldn’t quite carry on.Kallis struck in his second over as well, though Mushfiqur Rahim wasn’texactly thrilled when Steve Bucknor ruled him out after he appeared tomiss a glance down the leg side. Boucher took the catch and went up inappeal, and the raised finger gave him a record 417th dismissal, one ahead of therecently-retired Adam Gilchrist.Rafique came in and played the only way he knew. Two carves through theoff side off Kallis briefly enlivened the crowd, but a lazy waft then sawhis off stump knocked out. And on the stroke of lunch, Kallis wrappedthings up, having Mashrafe Mortaza graze one to slip and Shakib Al Hasanedge through to Boucher. The demolition job was complete, and it was leftto the batsmen to complete the task of getting the favourites out of jail.Neil McKenzie might have gone in Mortaza’s opening over, but an outsideedge didn’t carry to the slip cordon, and when he survived a massive shoutfor leg before soon after, you sensed it would be South Africa’s day. Heplayed a couple of gorgeous cover drives as the bowlers erred in line andlength, and Ashraful was soon calling for some left-arm spin from Rafique.
Graeme Smith’s 62 helped South Africa inch closer to a hard-fought win © AFP
It was Hossain who provided the opening though. Despite having gone for 13in his previous over, Smith lacing two lovely fours in the V, Ashrafulkept the faith in his bowler and was rewarded when a McKenzie miscued a pull to Habibul Bashar at square leg. Smith, who had been struck a painful blowin the abdomen at the start of his innings, survived a strong shout for acatch behind soon after, but the sort of collapse that ruined the firstinnings never materialised.Hashim Amla got going with a tidy glance off Rafique and an on-driveoff Hossain and when Smith moved towards his half-century with a sweetshot down the ground off Mortaza, the crowd’s spirits sank further. Havingbeen in the ascendancy a day earlier, Bangladesh were once again staringat defeat inside three days.Amla played some fabulous strokes down the ground and through midwicket,while Smith was clinical in putting away anything overpitched or wide. Thepartnership was worth 73 when Smith tried to tuck Rafique through the legside only to miss it completely. The appeal was upheld and Kallis, thebowling hero, arrived at the crease.Amla’s elegant effort ended soon after, when an attempted cut off Rafiqueflew off the outside edge to Siddique at first slip. Though the speed atwhich it was travelling pushed him back, he managed to hold on. It wasconsolation too for Rafique, after Bucknor had ruled Kallis not out when athin edge ricocheted off Rahim to the man at slip.He didn’t stay long enough to capitalise on the good fortune though.Hossain tempted him with a short ball, and the pull arrowed into the handsof Mortaza at backward square leg. At 144 for 4, the dressing room wouldhave been jittery, but Prince and de Villiers opted for discretion ratherthan an early finish, sensing that the Bangladeshis had lifted their game.de Villiers was uncharacteristically subdued, and it was Prince thatwhittled away at the target, with a powerful cut off Mortaza and two meatypulls off Rafique. Barring a dramatic reversal of fortune on Monday, SouthAfrica will win this game, and leave Bangladesh to ponder just how theylet it get away.