Bangladesh suffered a disastrous start against South Africa pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada after winning the toss and electing to bat first in the opening Test at The Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Handed a Test debut, 22-year-old opener Mahfijul Islam endured a nightmare beginning, dismissed for a golden duck on the very first ball of the match. Attempting to defend an outside-off delivery from Rabada, Mahfijul edged the ball to Marco Jansen at gully. With this dismissal, he became only the fourth batter in Test cricket history to be dismissed off the first ball of a match on debut joining Jimmy Cook, Leon Garrick and Abdul Malik on the unwanted list.
Rabada continued his fiery opening spell, removing experienced batter Mominul Haque caught behind off extra bounce and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto in quick succession. Bangladesh slumped to a precarious position early on, losing three top-order wickets with barely any runs on the board.
Earlier at the toss, Shanto opted to bat to take advantage of a dry surface, fielding a bowling attack featuring three pacers and one spinner. Alongside Mahfijul’s debut, Mominul Haque and pacer Ebadot Hossain returned to the playing XI as part of three changes from Bangladesh’s previous Test against the West Indies.
South Africa aiming to maintain their unbeaten home Test record against the Tigers made two changes from their previous Test against Australia, recalling top-order batter Zubayr Hamza and seamer Dane Paterson.
Playing XIs:
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Mahfijul Islam, Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain.
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Marques Ackerman, Zubayr Hamza, Temba Bavuma (capt), Matthew Breetzke, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada.
