Proteas vs Bangladesh: The plays of the day

POTCHEFSTROOM - Independent Media cricket writer Stuart Hess has looked at the key moments, performances and factors from the fourth day of the Proteas' first Test against Bangladesh.

Drop off:

Lord’s, Old Trafford and to a lesser extent The Oval - all Tests South Africa lost in England, where missed catches proved influential. Something ill has crept into the team’s catching and it’s another area that Ottis Gibson needs to address. In this match Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis have missed relatively easy chances. It may not prove costly in this match, but there are bigger challenges ahead this summer and such charity can’t be afforded.

Miserable Morne:

It had started well for the big fella (Morne Morkel); two wickets in his first over and then it all went south. First there was yet another wicket off a no ball - the 14th of his career, world record according to those who keep such stats. Then at the start of his sixth over, he walked off the field with what was later diagnosed as a side strain. He’ll go for scans today and will play no further part in this Test.

Das is good:

Liton Das may not have played this match had the magnificent Shakib Al-Hasan availed himself for this series, but he’s made the most of the opportunity, opening the innings when Bangladesh batted the first time and on Sunday he was responsible for two dismissals with outstanding displays of anticipation, skill and athleticism. There was the one-handed catch down leg-side to dismiss Temba Bavuma followed a short while later by the stumping of Quinton de Kock.

Triangle sopper:

They have an item here used to redistribute surface water unlike anything in the known cricket world. A triangular shaped plastic net that picks up damp surface grass. They have the conventional super-sopper too, but where other venues usually make use of a rope to shift surface moisture, the plastic-net-triangular device is unique to Senwes Park.