Bangladesh fight back in Test against S Africa

DHAKA—Bangladesh hit back to reduce South Africa to 76-4 after being skittled out for 192 on the opening day of the first Test on Friday.
The hosts, rocked by young paceman Morne Morkel’s five-wicket haul, struck through the pace-spin combination of Shahadat Hossain and Mohammad Rafique. Hossain sent back openers Graeme Smith (10) and Neil Mckenzie (five) while left-arm spinner Rafique claimed the wickets of Hashim Amla and the dangerous Jacques Kallis (17).
Smith, leading his side in a national record 53rd Test, played on to his stumps while Mckenzie and Amla (25) were trapped leg before wicket. Kallis lost his wicket to a ball that kept low and crashed on to his off-stump, a dismissal that sent the home fans into a frenzy at the Sher-e-Bangla Mirpur stadium. At stumps, Ashwell Prince, batting on nine, and Johan Botha on five were at the crease. The exploits of the Bangladesh bowlers followed the heroics of Morkel, playing in only his second Test after making his debut against India in 2006.
The 23-year-old South African bowler finished with 5-50, which included two wickets off two balls in the post-lunch session. South African coach Mickey Arthur said he was was disappointed with the batsmen as they failed to apply themselves.
“I was happy with the way we bowled though a little disappointed with the batting. They bowled well at our pads and we needed to adjust our technique. We will look for a score of 300 now,” he said. Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was pleased with the effort of his bowlers. “We were expecting to score around 250 but quite a few of our batsmen threw away their wickets after getting good starts.
“But our bowlers have brought us back into the game. If we can restrict them to a score below 250, then it can be anybody’s game,” he said.
Bangladesh, who have won just one of their 51 Tests — against minnows Zimbabwe — struggled for most of the day, losing their first five wickets for just 85. Middle-order batsman Aftab Ahmed showed some application, though, top-scoring with 44 and putting on a vital 70-run partnership with Shakib Al Hasan (30).
Ashraful made a brisk 34 off 27 balls with seven fours before falling prey to Botha, also playing his first Test in two years.
Quick bowler Dale Steyn complemented the efforts of Morkel by picking 3-27 while off-spinner Botha chipped in with two on an easy-paced wicket.
The hosts, who won the toss and elected to bat, were off to a disastrous start after losing young openers Junaid Siddique and Tamim Iqbal to Steyn.
The left-handed Iqbal was out for a duck as he tried to flick one past midwicket but got a thick inside edge, which was scooped up by the bowler. Siddique (1) edged one behind to Mark Boucher who equalled Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist’s record for most Test dismissals (416).—Agencies