Bangladesh secured an 81-run lead at the end of day three of the Dhaka Test against South Africa, which was cut short due to bad light on Wednesday.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and debutant Jaker Ali hit a fifty each, helping Bangladesh escape the fear of innings defeat. Jaker was the 18th Bangladeshi batter to score a fifty on debut.
They put on a 138-run stand before Jaker was dismissed by Keshav Maharaj. Jaker made 58 runs.
Less than 58 overs of play was possible on the day. Rain and bad lights wasted more than 2.5 hours of play. Finally, the day was called off with one hour to go before the original closing time.
Mehidy hits 50 as Bangladesh escape fear of inning defeat
At the start of the day, Bangladesh were 101 runs behind South Africa, but they ended the day with an 81-run lead despite Kagiso Rabada taking two early wickets, removing both Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mushfqiur Rahim, who were unbeaten overnight.
Mehidy remained unbeaten for 87 off 171 balls, while Nayeem Hasan, who came at nine, scored 16.
Mushtaq Ahmed, Bangladesh’s spin bowling coach, said they still believe a 200-run is still possible. He insisted that if the players believed, they could achieve it.
While Bangladesh are ahead of 81 runs with three wickets in hand, Maharaj, South Africa’s spinner, said they are still in a commanding position in this match.
In the first innings of the match, Bangladesh scored 106, in reply, South Africa posted 308, riding on a century of Kyle Verreynne. Taijul Islam bagged five wickets, to complete 200 wickets in Test.
Bangladesh played 14 Tests against South Africa but never won a match.