Proteas keep their dominance intact in Gqeberha

Bowling all-rounder Keshav Maharaj quick-fired his way to a half-century as hosts South Africa piled up a handsome total of 384 for seven after 115 overs in their first innings at lunch on the second day of the second Test in Gqeberha today.

Maharaj, who arrived after Khaled Ahmed eliminated Kyle Verrynne, reached fifty with a six off Mehedi Miraz and remained unbeaten for his 61-ball 55, laced with four boundaries and three sixes.

Meanwhile, Taijul Islam grabbed his fourth wicket at the stroke of lunch with a superb drifter to castle overnight-batter Wiaan Mulder, out for 33. And with that dismissal, a 100-ball 80-run stand between Mulder and Maharaj was broken.

All of Proteas batters have chipped in so far, with Verrynne's 22 remains the lowest score of their innings.  

Donald intervenes to fix field-placing before Khaled's breakthrough

Fast bowler Khaled Ahmed repeated his act of picking up the first wicket of the day for Bangladesh in the second Test's second day in Gqeberha today. The 29-year-old has scalped his third wicket of the game so far as he removed Kyle Verrynne. 

South Africa are 332 for six after 101 overs, with Keshav Maharaj batting on 23 had already surpassed overnight-batter Wiaan Mulder, batting on 15.  

Before the breakthrough, Bangladesh came close to striking in the fourth over of the day as overnight-batter Wiaan Mulder edged Ebadot Hossain delivery towards vacant third slip area, outside the reach of an outstretched Yasir Ali diving towards his right at second slip.

Although the ball was likely to have fallen short even in the presence of a third slip fielder, Mominul Haque's mindset came into question since the Tigers were bowling with a relatively fresh second new ball.
 
The Tigers fast bowling coach Allan Donald appeared frustrated from the dressing room and purposefully headed down to the boundary line. Donald was seen to instruct Mushfiqur Rahim and soon Bangladesh had a third slip but only for seven deliveries as Mominul reverted back to two slips as soon as Khaled was hit for a boundary in the cover region.

Two deliveries later though, Khaled took matters into his own hands as his delivery went through the gap between Verrynne's bat and pad to knock his middle stump off. Verrynne departed after a cautious 48-ball 22    

In Khaled's previous over, the pacer had managed to rattle Verrynne with an unsporting act. Verrynne, on strike, had played defensively back to the bowler and Khaled, almost impulsively, threw the ball at the stumps but it went on to hit Verrynne in the gloves, and worse, the batter had no clue that the ball was coming in his way.

Khaled and Ebadot have bowled relatively well than how they began the day yesterday. Taijul, however, is yet to find his rhythm as he found himself on the receiving end of the wrath of Maharaj, who looks to be in a hurry to reach his fifty.