South Africa took just 55 minutes to wrap up an innings and 60-run win over Bangladesh on the fourth morning of the first Test in Chittagong on Sunday.
Paul Adams took three of the five wickets to fall in the day to finish with figures of 5 for 69, which added to his first innings haul of 5 for 37 gave him a match analysis of 10 for 106.
He is the 12th South African to take ten or more wickets in a Test and he joins Hugh Tayfield and AE Vogler as the only spinners to achieve the feat.
Resuming on 185 for 5, still 112 runs short of making South Africa bat again, Mohammed Asraful and Akram Kahn took the score to 213 before Ashraful drove Charl Willoughby to Graeme Smith at mid-off for 28, giving the big Western Province left-arm seamer his first Test wicket.
Akram then pulled Adams to Boeta Dippenaar at square leg and Mortaza edged the next ball to Shaun Pollock at slip.
Captain Smith joined the Test wicket takers’ list when he enticed his opposite number Khaled Mahmud out of his ground and Mark Boucher stumped him for a single.
Adams did all the work for his fifth wicket when last man Enamul Haque chipped back a simple catch to finish the innings on 237.
”I had a chance to run out the last man earlier,” said a smiling Adams afterwards, ”but I missed it and said to Billy (umpire Billy Bowden): ”Why would I want to run him out, I need one wicket for ten”.
This is the left arm Chinaman bowler’s first career ten-wicket haul in any form of the game and comes just over a year since he played his last Test against Australia at Kingsmead. He missed all six home Tests during the domestic season due to a back injury.
Captain Graeme Smith was delighted with his team’s performance. ”The batsmen did their jobs brilliantly. Jacques (Rudolph) and Boeta (Dippenaar) were superb, they adapted well to the conditions and put us in a great position.”
Dippenaar and Rudolph shared in a South African Test record stand of 429 for the third wicket as South Africa posted 470 for 2 in reply to Bangladesh’s 173 all out.
”To win a Test an hour into the fourth day in the sub-continent is a great effort by the guys. The bowlers had to work hard for periods in both innings. Bashar and Omar played well on the third afternoon, but we stuck to our disciplines and eventually the breakthrough came,” Smith said.
Javed Omar (71) and Habibul Bashar (75) put on 131 for the second wicket before the home team lost their last 8 wickets for 64 runs.
Jacques Rudolph was named the man of the match for his 222 not out, the second highest score on debut in Test history.
”I am really proud, it’s a great feeling to make a double century any time, but to do so on your Test debut is a dream start,” he said. But where does one go from a start like that?”
”I have to come back down to earth quickly, I’ve got confidence now, but I have to start my next innings on nought and not on 222,” said the 21-year-old Northern Titans left-hander.
So the new era of South African Test cricket is off to a winning start. Some may question the quality of the opposition, but the job was done ruthlessly and those new to Test cricket learned much.
Aside from Rudolph, Alan Dawson gave a good account of himself on his debut with a fine understanding of the need to change both pace and length, and Charl Willoughby gained massively in experience in his first Test.
The second and final Test begins at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.
Scores:
Bangladesh: 173 all out (Bashar 60, Adams 12.3-2-37-5, Ntini 17-4-45-2, Dawson 13-3-37-2) South Africa: 470/2 dec (Rudolph 222 not out, Dippenaar 177 not out) Bangladesh: 237 all out (Omar 71, Bashar 75, Adams 18.4-4-69-5, Pollock 13-9-12-2)
South Africa won by an innings and 60 runs. – Sapa