South Africa vs Bangladesh, 1st Test Stats Review: Bangladesh’s second-lowest score, Keshav Maharaj’s feat, and other stats

After suffering a shocking defeat to Bangladesh in the ODI series on home soil, South Africa bounced back brilliantly to beat the Asian side in the first Test match by 220 runs at the Kingsmead in Durban. Chasing 274 to win on the final day, Keshav Maharaj spun his web to skittle the Bangla Tigers for just 53 runs as the spinner registered his second-best figures of 7/32 in Test matches. With this total, the visitors also recorded their second-lowest score in Tests.

Talking about how the first Test match panned out, the tourists won the toss and opted to bowl first. Skipper Dean Elgar scored 67 runs with Temba Bavuma top-scoring for the Proteas with his 93-run knock. Khaled Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan took four and three wickets respectively as the home side posted 367 runs on the board.

Opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy played a spectacular inning of 137 runs in 326 deliveries as he became the first Bangladeshi player to hit a ton against South Africa in Test cricket. Lower order contributed for Mominul Haque’s side as they finished with 298 runs. Simon Harmer snared four wickets for 103 runs in his 40-over spell.

With a lead of 69 runs, captain Elgar started the second innings well for his side as he continued from where he left off in the first innings. He slammed another half-century with Ryan Rickelton and Keegan Petersen also scoring crucial 39 and 36 runs respectively as the Proteas got dismissed for 204 runs.

Chasing 274 to win, Bangladesh had no answers whatsoever to Maharaj’s spin bowling. They got bundled out for just 53 runs as the home team scripted a victory by a margin of 220 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. For his exceptional match-winning spell, Maharaj was declared Player of the Match. The second and final Test begins on April 08 at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from South Africa vs Bangladesh, 1^st Test:

2 – Keshav Maharaj achieved his second-best bowling figures (7/32) in an inning in Tests. His best is 9/129 against Sri Lanka in 2018.

2 – Bangladesh registered their second-lowest score (53) in Tests. They got all out for 43 which is their lowest against West Indies in 2018.

1 – With a score of 137, Mahmudul Hasan Joy became the first Bangladeshi batter to score a Test century against South Africa.

1 – Bangladesh recorded the lowest Test score of 53 at the Kingsmead in Durban. The previous lowest total was 66 by India in the year 1966.

11 – South Africa won their 11^th Test match against Bangladesh out of the 13 played. Two games have been drawn with Bangladesh yet to register a win.

4 – The Asian side Bangladesh also became the team with the fourth-lowest total (53) against South Africa. New Zealand, Australia, and Pakistan have got dismissed for 45, 47, and 49 respectively against the Proteas.

4 – Maharaj scripted the fourth-best figures (7/32) at the Kingsmead in Durban in Test matches.

7 – Bangladesh has played seven Tests against the Proteas in South Africa and lost all seven of them.

4 – Hasan Joy achieved the fourth highest score (137) by a visiting batter against the Proteas in Durban in the 21^st Century.

1 – South African spinners took all the ten wickets in the second innings. This is first such instance since their return to international cricket.