Second test match between Bangladesh and South Africa begins tomorrow by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Event:

Bangladesh in South Africa 2008/09

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DateLine: 25th November 2008

 

South Africa will be looking for a clean sweep when they take on Bangladesh in the second test match here in Centurion Park tomorrow. After an innings defeat in the first test, Bangladesh will be looking to redeem itself and compete harder to stretch South Africa. The first match if not for rain would have finished in three days.

Shakib Al Hasan's performance was the only bright spot in the first test. South Africa were 300 odd for 1 at the end of the first day. His five wickets halted South Africa's progress. From a potential score of 600, they ended up getting only 441. The South African middle and late order collapsed to the guile of the left arm spinner who ended up with 5 wickets. Smith and Amla with their centuries got a good hit in the middle.

The Bangladesh batsmen will have to cope with the pace and bounce of the South African quicks. It won't be easy as none of their batsmen showed any sort of technique against the moving ball. The South African quicks were too hot to handle. If they do not show any aggressive intent against the South African quicks, it will be the same old story for them. Their batsman need to make sure that there are runs on the board for the bowlers to compete in the second test, and for that their captain Mohammed Ashraful needs to lead from the front.

On the other hand the South Africans would want to have a ruthless performance under their belt, so that they can be in a positive frame of mind going into the tour of Australia. This might be their best chance of beating Australia at home, keeping in mind the fact that, Australia are not in the greatest frame of mind with the latest Andrew Symonds episode, and the inability of their batsman to get good enough scores against a rookie Kiwi pace attack. South Africa will definitely fancy their chances this time around against a deflated and a depleted Australian team, who are struggling to come to terms with the retirement of their greats.