Bangladesh still hope for first Test victory over South Africa

CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh (AP):

DESPITE A recent poor performance, Bangladesh refuse to give up hopes of grabbing a first Test victory against South Africa as they gear up for the second and final match beginning today.

After their historic 2-0 series victory against Pakistan, Bangladesh failed to continue the good work in a series against India and the first match against South Africa.

Bangladesh were favoured against South Africa, given the Proteas hadn’t won in the subcontinent since 2014, but a poor batting performance led to a seven-wicket defeat in the opener.

“There is definitely a goal and it is to win the second Test,” Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam said. “Our main target is to play as a team. Be it bowling, batting or fielding, we’ll play as a team. We’ll try our best to win the match.”

The victory kept South Africa unbeaten against Bangladesh with 13 wins and two draws in 15 Tests.

Bangladesh were dismissed for 106 in the first innings, which Taijul said determined the course of the game.

“As I said earlier, it is important to play as a unit. If we can stitch two or three partnerships, if two or three batters can score half-centuries or centuries, then the target will be fulfilled,” he said.

“Everyone is working hard and they are determined to overcome those batting troubles. I hope we’ll do well in this match.”

After ending their subcontinent win drought, South Africa now aim to take the series and bolster their chance to make the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Stand-in captain Aiden Markram said the possibility of making the WTC final won’t add pressure to their aspiration of series victory.

“I mean, I don’t think it really adds pressure for us. It’s just an exciting opportunity that could be,” Markram said. “So that’s almost how we’re trying to view it. Probably still need to win a lot of the remaining matches and we’ve got five left until that. Five Test matches is a lot of cricket to be played.

“So, that’s pretty much where we are at now. We, hopefully, can go session by session, game by game. We, hopefully, give ourselves a good chance. But excited about what could be moving forward.”