B'desh, SA hope rain stays away

Bangladesh wants to take advantage of the gains it earned from the rain-hit drawn first Test against South Africa in the series-ending second starting on Thursday.Showing a highly energetic performance, Bangladesh bowled the visitors out for a noteworthy 248 in the first innings, and replied with 326, its highest score against South Africa. Bangladesh applied most of the pressure for the three days played, and captain Mushfiqur Rahim termed the performance as the beginning of achieving something bigger in a format where they are yet to beat any topflight teams.

Bangladesh’s seven Test wins have been against Zimbabwe and a second-string West Indies. But thanks to encouraging results and new players, Bangladesh has created a genuine sense of anticipation of an unprecedented achievement in this brief series.“We can take plenty of confidence from the first Test,” Mushfiqur said. “Our bowling unit clicked in amazing style, and have the belief that they can bowl out South Africa below 250 if they put the ball in the right spot. So we know it’s possible to win the Test and win the series by 1-0.”

South Africa won the Twenty20 series and first ODI, then lost the ODI series for the first time. The Proteas have not lost an overseas test series since 2006, and Bangladesh was wary of a backlash.“We know South Africa will come up all guns blazing,” Mushfiqur said. “We are confident and keen to make a statement.”

He said psychological fatigue shouldn’t be a problem. Bangladesh conceded momentum at the end of its last two series, against Pakistan and India, partly because it hasn’t been used to playing long series.“The challenge of Test cricket is to keep up the intensity for five straight days,” Mushfiqur said. “Yes, we weren’t focused on our job at the end of the last couple of series. The players are aware of it, and trying to learn from the mistakes.

“We are mentally strong enough to cope with adverse situations. We came back in the series after losing the last match against India, the Twenty20 series, and first ODI to South Africa.”But monsoon rain, again, threatens to undermine Bangladesh’s hopes. Heavy rain and thunder showers are forecast every single day.

South Africa captain Hashim Amla expected the rain to stay away to allow a full five-day game. “We managed to get in a few training sessions although there was rain around,” Amla said. “Thankfully, the weather looks very good at the moment. If we can get a full five days, it’s about us trying to do as well as we can.”