(ESPN Cricinfo) – It was a coming-of-age day for two of South Africa’s top three, as Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs both scored their first Test centuries in Chattogram.
De Zorzi and Stubbs, with eight and five Test caps to their names, respectively, shared South Africa’s third-highest second-wicket stand in Asia of 201 to put South Africa in a strong position to push for a series sweep.
They made the most of batter-friendly conditions with little seam movement, swing or steep bounce, and only hints of turn to assist the home attack. Bangladesh’s bowlers had little to work with, and the best they managed was to keep South Africa quiet in patches.
Their tall seamer Nahid Rana was the most impressive of the five-man attack and reached speeds of up to 148kph but went wicket-less. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam picked up from where he left off after a five-for in Mirpur and was the only bowler to take wickets, although Hasan Mahmud will feel hard done by. De Zorzi was dropped off him twice, on 6 and 69, on his way to an unbeaten 141.
South Africa started the day strongly as stand-in captain Aiden Markram and de Zorzi motored at 4.6 runs an over in the first hour. They hit four fours and a six between them as South Africa reached morning drinks on 60 without loss.
The only threat came from Hasan, who took de Zorzi’s edge with the first ball of his fourth over, but debutant wicketkeeper Mahidul Islam could not hold on. Bangladesh turned to spin from both ends after that, and it brought success for Taijul. Markram advanced down the track to a ball that was not as short as he anticipated and chipped it to Mominul Haque at mid-on.
Markram’s dismissal allowed Bangladesh to pull the scoring rate back. They did not concede a boundary for 21 deliveries, as Stubbs played himself in. He found his first four when he reverse-swept Mehidy Hasan Miraz behind point, but then Bangladesh reapplied the squeeze.
Another 28 balls were bowled for just 14 runs before de Zorzi brought up South Africa’s hundred with a sumptuous cover drive. De Zorzi went to lunch one away from a third Test fifty and got there in the over after the break.
The opening exchanges of the afternoon session were difficult for South Africa, and they went 91 deliveries between boundaries as they navigated Rana’s pace and small amounts of proper turn from Taijul. Nahid’s lengths were improved from the fuller ones he employed in the morning, and he stuck to back-of-a-length balls, which proved difficult to get away.
But he did not come close to a wicket. Instead, it was Mahmud who should have had something to show for his efforts. He drew de Zorzi forward again and took the edge, but the chance slipped through the hands of Shadman Islam at first slip. De Zorzi and South Africa survived a period in which they scored only 34 runs in 13 overs after lunch, and then things opened up a bit for them.
The next eight overs brought 32 runs at a healthier scoring rate, and Stubbs brought up his second Test fifty. Stubbs grew in confidence when he hit Mehidy over the sightscreen for six, and de Zorzi followed suit by entering the nineties by sending Taijul over long-on. De Zorzi reached his hundred with a sweep shot off Mehidy through square leg and celebrated his achievement to warm applause from the dugout, which included injured captain Temba Bavuma. De Zorzi is only the second black African batter from South Africa to score a Test hundred, after Bavuma.
As de Zorzi struggled with cramps, Stubbs faced 25 of the first 30 deliveries after tea and showed good intent. He was particularly severe on Mehidy, charging him twice for six and reverse-sweeping him for four to near the nineties and knuckle down.
De Zorzi struggled to run between the wickets, so the pair quietened down, and Stubbs spent 39 balls, getting from 88 to 100. He did it with a single to deep point and a standing ovation from everyone in the South African camp.
Stubbs was bowled in the next over by a ball that kept low from Taijul with about half an hour left of play in the day. South Africa saw that as a license to attack. De Zorzi and David Bedingham played with freedom and scored 34 runs in the six overs that followed as Bangladesh awaited the second new ball.
They were also without their captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, for that period after he left the field with what seemed like illness. Taijul led in his absence and took the second new ball as soon as it became available. Mehidy bowled one over with it before the players came off for bad light, with the day’s accolades going to de Zorzi.
South Africa went into this series with only two specialist batters in their squad with playing experience in the subcontinent and only one, Markram, with a century in Asia. The other, Bavuma, was ruled out of the series with injury, which left them further bereft of experience. A Test and a day into the series, they have four batters in the playing XI who have scored centuries in the subcontinent.