Bangladesh 143 (Mahmud 38, Maharaj 5-59, Muthusamy 4-45) and 159 (Mominul 82, Rabada 5-37, Paterson 2-31, Maharaj 2-57) beat South Africa 575 for 6 dec by an innings and 273 runs
South Africa completed their first series win in the subcontinent in a decade, their first series sweep in Asia since 2008 and are up to fourth place on the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. A innings-and-273-run victory, their largest of all time, over Bangladesh in Chattogram means South Africa need to win at least three of their four home Tests this summer to maintain a chance to qualify for the WTC final.
It was as complete a performance as South Africa could have hoped for with three centuries in the batting line-up and wickets for both seamers and spinners. They claimed 16 on the third day, with five-fors for both their champion seamer Kagiso Rabada and first-choice left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. Spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy also earned a career-best with a second-innings 4 for 45.
For Bangladesh, their batting remains a major concern. On a fairly placid pitch, they were on the brink at 48 for 8 in their first innings before Mominul Haque and Taijul Islam combined for a 103-run stand for the ninth-wicket. That was Bangladesh’s third-highest partnership against South Africa for any wicket. Mominul was dismissed 18 short of a 14th Test century. There were no other scores above 30 in the first innings and none higher than Hasan Mahmud’s 38 in the second innings, where they also had no partnerships higher than 37. Shot selection was a particular concern, especially in picking up the right lengths to drive and knowing when to attack the spinners.
