Rabada ‘a superstar’ as South Africa crush Bangladesh by seven wickets

sanjeev

khelja|25-10-2024

South Africa cruised to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first Test on Thursday with fast bowler Kagiso Rabada the star of the show in Mirpur.
Rabada took 6-46 as Bangladesh went from 283-7 overnight to 307 all out, leaving the visitors a victory target of 106. Rabada finished with 9-72 in the match, having become the fastest bowler to reach 300 Test wickets during the first innings. 'It's special,' stand-in captain Aiden Markram said of a victory that was sealed before lunch on day four and gave South Africa a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. They move up to fourth in the World Test Championship standings. 'A pretty young group, or slightly inexperienced group... to come to the subcontinent and get a win is great for us,' Markram added. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took all the wickets to fall in his 3-43, but he failed to slow South Africa's chase as they reached 106-3. Tony de Zorzi top-scored with a quickfire 41 off 52 balls, hitting seven fours. Fellow opener Markram was first to go, bowled by Taijul for 20. De Zorzi departed in the 16th over trying to play a big shot over long-on, caught by Hasan Mahmud. David Bedingham was third out caught behind by wicketkeeper Litton Das. Tristan Stubbs, unbeaten on 30, ensured there were no further alarms. 'He has been a superstar for us for years,' Markram added of Rabada. 'And to see all those stats pop up about him... it really proves that he's one in a million, and we're really lucky to have him on our team.' 'Disappointing': Bangladesh lost their last three wickets for just 24 runs inside half an hour, all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz top-scoring with 97. 'Missing out on the century is disappointing,' said Mehidy. 'I would have been happy if I had executed the plan better. I was only focusing on guiding the team to a strong position.' Nayeem Hasan departed lbw without adding to his overnight 16 on the third ball of the day when a rampant Rabada inswinger kept low. Wiaan Mulder removed Taijul for seven in the fourth over via a thick edge to Stubbs at third slip. Mehidy fell three runs short of his second Test century in the next over when he edged Rabada to Mulder at slip.