The Hindu : Bangladesh in dire straits, as usual

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 27, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Bangladesh in dire straits, as usual

Chittagong April 26. Jacques Rudolph bludgeoned a debut double century in a record partnership with Boeta Dippenaar as South Africa took command on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh here on Saturday.

Rudolph (222) and Dippenaar (177) put on 429 runs for the unbroken third wicket stand, the best ever for any wicket for South Africa, as it declared at 470-2 towards the end of the first session.

Bangladesh was 185-5 at close, after conceding a 297-run first innings lead.

Rudolph and Dippenaar, overnight on 170 and 131, respectively, continued to torment Bangladesh this morning and broke the previous South African best for any wicket.

The previous record belonged to Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs, who put on 368 runs for the first wicket against Pakistan earlier this year.

The previous best for the third wicket for South Africa was between Eddie Barlow and Graeme Pollock, who were associated in a 361-run stand against Australia at Adelaide way back in 1963-64.

It was also the sixth-best partnership ever in the history of Test cricket.

Rudolph got a rare double-century on his debut in the process. The 21-year-old left-hander became only the fifth batsman in Test history to get the distinction after West Indian Lawrence Rowe, Brendon Kuruppu of Sri Lanka, Matthew Sinclair of New Zealand and Reginald Foster of England.

Rudolph drove with aplomb and cut with ease, hitting 29 fours and two sixes during his 521-minute knock, his partnership with Dippenaar lasting 123.2 overs after the duo came together on the first day.

Dippenaar hit 25 boundaries and two sixes in his 516- minute stay in the middle to make his 18th Test a memorable one. He had only one century and two half-centuries before this match.

Dippenaar had two close calls in the morning session, when he was caught by Khaled Mahmud at mid-off off Mashrafe bin Murtaza on a no-ball and held by Javed Omar at the mid wicket fence off Enamul Haque, but the fielder crossed the boundary.

Bangladesh, which scored just 173 in the first innings, did better the second time round as Habibul Bashar (75) and opener Omar (71) put on 131 runs for the second wicket, the best partnership for Bangladesh for any wicket.

They hit 13 fours apiece as the South African bowlers were punished for the first time in the match. Both were caught behind off bouncers as Bashar went to pull Shaun Pollock and Omar failed to keep one down from Ntini.

The home side is still 112 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat with five wickets in hand. Bangladesh has lost 16 of 17 Tests since its induction into the Test arena over two years ago. The second and final Test will be held in Dhaka from May 1.

AFP

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