Originally Posted by www.cricinfo.com

BCB XI v South Africans, Fatullah, 3rd day
Prince and Botha highlight South Africa's batting presence
Cricinfo Staff
February 19, 2008

South Africans 467/9 dec (Prince 122, Botha 82*, Reza 6-83) drew with BCB XI 225 (Saleh 49, Ntini 4-36, Steyn 4-38) and 107/3 (Nafees 33, Siddique 32, Ntini 1-13)

South Africa dominated the 3-day tour match with the BCB XI before time ran out on day 3. The BCB XI were made to follow-on by South Africa captain Graeme Smith, after his side had posted 467/9 on days 1 and 2.

Ashwell Prince scored a fine 122, along with good scores from AB de Villiers and Johan Botha. Graeme Smith failed with the bat, dismissed by Reza from the 2nd ball of the game. But that was about as good as it got for the BCB XI as the South African batsmen took advantage of a very flat track in Fatullah. Prince hit 13 fours on the way to his 122 in just 166 balls, with help from AB de Villiers who scored 71 in their partnership of 160. Johan Botha scored a fine unbeaten 82, before Graeme Smith declared late in the afternoon session on day 2. Farhad Reza was the only outstanding bowler for the BCB XI, as he took 6 of the South African wickets.

Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn made light work of the BCB XI batting line-up, both taking 4 wickets. Only late order stubborn batting saved the BCB XI from possibly being beaten. Rajin Saleh top scored with 49, and Farhad Reza backed up his fine bowling with a brilliant 46*. Raqibul Hasan and Syed Rasel contributed with good scores of 44 and 17 respectively, late on in BCB XI's innings.

South Africa took 3 wickets in the BCB XI's 2nd innings, before time ran out at the end of the game. Nafees and Siddique put on an opening partnership of 76, as the two Bangladeshi openers pushed for a test spot in the 1st test match. Steyn, Botha and Ntini all took a wicket a piece and looked to be in good touch before the 1st test on February 22nd.

Originally Posted by www.cricinfo.com

Bangladesh v South Africa, 1st Test, Mirpur, 1st day
Smith leads attack on Bangladeshi bowlers
Cricinfo Staff
February 22, 2008

South Africa 315/3 (Smith 142*, Gibbs 64, Ashraful 2/30) lead Bangladesh by 315 runs

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1...mesmithxq4.jpg

South African skipper, Graeme Smith, hit a fantastic unbeaten 142 on day one of the 1st test between Bangladesh and South Africa in Mirpur. The opener hit 12 fours in his 271 faced deliveries, putting South Africa firmly in the driving seat of this test match.

Smith won the toss and elected to bat on a flat Mirpur wicket. His decision looked a good one as he and Herschelle Gibbs piled on the runs during the first session, reaching 92/0 at the lunch break. Graeme Smith brought up his 50 after 95 balls, Gibbs going at a slower rate, getting his 50 in 109 deliveries. Gibbs was first to go, 11 overs into the afternoon session. It was Mohammad Rafique who took the wicket, his 95th wicket in test cricket, bowling Gibbs after a missed sweep shot from the opener.

After the opening partnership of 113 between Smith and Gibbs, Hashim Amla joined Smith at the crease. The two of them continued the work of the first partnership, putting on 108 for the 2nd wicket. Smith cruised to his 13th Test century, in 181 deliveries. Amla departed 2 short of his half century, stumped by Mushfiqur Rahim off the bowling of captain Mohammad Ashraful.

Ashraful claimed the 3rd and final wicket of the day, that of Jacques Kallis for 15. Kallis looked good for his 16 deliveries but a fine reflex catch at short leg from Aftab Ahmed sent him on his way. The final session produced 117 runs for South Africa, but in the process they lost 2 wickets. Graeme Smith finished with 142* and Ashwell Prince continued his good form from the 3-day tour match, by hitting 32* from 51 including 4 fours.

Mohammad Ashraful and Mohammad Rafique were the only wicket takers, as the Bangladeshi seamer's struggled on a flat wicket. With a steady run rate of 3.32, South Africa will look to push on tomorrow morning, and it will be another hard day for the Bangladeshi bowlers.

Originally Posted by treva (Post 1493600)

February
Sun 17 - Tue 19
10:00 local, 04:00 GMT - Bangladesh Cricket Board XI v South Africans
Narayanganj Osmani Stadium, Fatullah

Fri 22 - Tue 26
10:00 local, 04:00 GMT 1st Test - Bangladesh v South Africa
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

Fri 29 - Tue 4
10:00 local, 04:00 GMT 2nd Test - Bangladesh v South Africa
Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium, Chittagong

March 2008
Fri 7
09:30 local, 03:30 GMT TBC v South Africans
Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium, Chittagong

Sun 9
09:30 local, 03:30 GMT 1st ODI - Bangladesh v South Africa
Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium, Chittagong

Wed 12
09:30 local, 03:30 GMT 2nd ODI - Bangladesh v South Africa
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

Fri 14
09:30 local, 03:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Bangladesh v South Africa
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

Thu 20 - Sun 23
10:00 local, 04:30 GMT India A v South Africans
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Wed 26 - Sun 30
10:00 local, 04:30 GMT 1st Test - India v South Africa
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

April 2008
Thu 3 - Mon 7
10:00 local, 04:30 GMT 2nd Test - India v South Africa
Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Fri 11 - Tue 15
10:00 local, 04:30 GMT 3rd Test - India v South Africa
Green Park, Kanpur

June 2008
Sun 29 - Tue 1
11:00 local, 10:00 GMT Somerset v South Africans
County Ground, Taunton

July 2008
Fri 4 - Sun 6
11:00 local, 10:00 GMT Middlesex v South Africans
Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground
Essex, Middx or Sussex

Thu 10 - Mon 14
11:00 local, 10:00 GMT 1st Test - England v South Africa
Lord's, London

Fri 18 - Tue 22
11:00 local, 10:00 GMT 2nd Test - England v South Africa
Headingley, Leeds

Fri 25 - Sun 27
11:00 local, 10:00 GMT Bangladesh A v South Africans
County Ground, New Road, Worcester

Wed 30 - Sun 3
11:00 local, 10:00 GMT 3rd Test - England v South Africa
Edgbaston, Birmingham

August 2008
Thu 7 - Mon 11
11:00 local, 10:00 GMT 4th Test - England v South Africa
Kennington Oval, London


Thu 14
10:15 local, 09:15 GMT England Lions v South Africans
Grace Road, Leicester

Sat 16
10:15 local, 09:15 GMT England Lions v South Africans
County Ground, Derby


Wed 20
16:30 local, 15:30 GMT Only Twenty20 International - England v South Africa
Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

Fri 22
14:30 local, 13:30 GMT 1st ODI - England v South Africa
Headingley, Leeds

Remember to squeeze in two home ODI's against Kenya in May...

Tue 26
14:30 local, 13:30 GMT 2nd ODI - England v South Africa
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Fri 29
10:15 local, 09:15 GMT 3rd ODI - England v South Africa
Kennington Oval, London

Sun 31
10:15 local, 09:15 GMT 4th ODI - England v South Africa
Lord's, London

September 2008
Wed 3
10:15 local, 09:15 GMT 5th ODI - England v South Africa
Sophia Gardens, Cardiff[/CENTER]

Originally Posted by andruid (Post 1496765)

Remember to squeeze in two home ODI's against Kenya in May..,.

Originally Posted by www.cricinfo.com

Bangladesh v South Africa, 1st Test, Mirpur, 2nd day
Prince hits back to back centuries as South Africa pass 600
Cricinfo Staff
February 23, 2008

South Africa 614/8 (Smith 159, Prince 110, Rafique 3/93) lead Bangladesh by 614 runs

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/9...lprinceqj2.jpg

Ashwell Prince added to his 122 in the 3-day tour match by scoring 110 on day 2 of South Africa's 1st test with Bangladesh. Prince hit 11 fours and a six during his 208 balls at the crease. AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher added to Prince's century by both scoring 60's.

South Africa started the day on 315/3 with Smith unbeaten on 142 overnight. Smith reached his 150 in 304 balls after starting a early attack on Bangladesh to boost the run rate from day one. The 1st wicket of the day fell to Shahadat Hossain, Smith just adding 9 more to his 150, bowled by a in-swinging delivery. Prince continued where Smith left off and raced on to his 8th Test century from 196.

Prince and de Villiers put on 103 for the 5th wicket, but after de Villiers reached his half century he was dismissed by Rafique for 64. Prince departed shortly after on 110, Rafique again the man to get Bangladesh the vital wicket. South Africa's long batting line-up rubbed salt into Bangladeshi wounds as Mark Boucher and Johan Botha added 95 together, Boucher making a half century of his own.

Both Boucher and Botha fell in the final session of the day for 66 and 47 respectively. Syed Rasel grabbing his 1st wicket trapping Boucher lbw, and then Hossain claimed his 2nd to bowl Botha, 3 overs from the end of the day.

Rafique took 3/93 and moved ever closer to that 100th test wicket, finishing the day on 97 wickets. Hossain grabbed 2 in the day also, with Rasel picking up the one solitary wicket. South Africa are expected to declare overnight with 3 days still to play. Bangladesh have a lot of work to do if they are to save this game.

Originally Posted by treva (Post 1496777)

Are they playing them? I took all the fixtures from cricinfo and that didn't come up...

Originally Posted by www.cricinfo.com

Bangladesh v South Africa, 1st Test, Mirpur, 3rd day
Ashraful and Aftab partnership helps Bangladesh to fight back
Cricinfo Staff
February 23, 2008

Bangladesh 314/5 (Ashraful 93, Aftab 86, Smith 2/28) trail South Africa 614/8 (Smith 159, Prince 110, Rafique 3/93) by 300 runs

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3...shrafulfi7.jpg

Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed hit big half centuries to give Bangladesh a glimmer of hope in saving the 1st test from Mirpur. Ashraful fell 7 short of a superb century, scoring 93 to lead from the front and put Bangladesh in a good position to save the game. Aftab Ahmed hit 86 in a partnership of 179, the 3rd highest Bangladesh partnership ever.

The day started with the news that Graeme Smith had decided to declare overnight. Out stepped Bangladeshi openers Shahriar Nafees and Junaid Siddique to face the new ball duo of Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini. Steyn struck in just the 7th over, finding the edge of Nafees' bat where Amla took a good low catch at 3rd slip. The very next over Ntini got the 2nd wicket, that of the other opener Siddique. A straight ball did for Siddique, playing all around it. Morne Mørkel got into the act to dismiss Rajin Saleh caught and bowled for 12.

The score at 41/3 and looking very precarious for Bangladesh, a strong partnership was needed, and boy did they get that. A brilliant stand of 179, Bangladesh's 3rd highest test match partnership, set them up for a good chance of grabbing a draw from the game. Ashraful reached his 8th half century in 87 deliveries. Aftab took 82 balls for his half century, Bangladesh making it to tea at 222/3. But South Africa came out after tea and took crucial wickets. Graeme Smith continued to bowl at one end and got his reward, removing his opposite number, Mohammad Ashraful, for 93. Six overs later he had his 2nd victim. Aftab finally our after 160 deliveries, caught by Amla for 86.

Just as it seemed Bangladesh may fall for under 350, up stepped wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and veteran spinner Mohammad Rafique. The two put on an unbeaten stand of 83 come the close of play. Rahim brought up his 50 in the penultimate over of the day to leave Bangladesh on 314/5 at the close. Graeme Smith was the pick of the South African bowlers picking up two wickets, and Steyn, Ntini and Mørkel all took 1 wicket each.

With Rahim and Rafique at the crease, if they get settled then Bangladesh could be looking at a score around 400. Although they will most likely be made to follow-on, another long innings could save them from a loss, which would be a huge boost for Bangladeshi cricket to see their side fight back so well.

Originally Posted by www.cricinfo.com

Bangladesh v South Africa, 1st Test, Mirpur, 4th day
Rahim century and lower order battling saves Bangladesh
Cricinfo Staff
February 25, 2008

South Africa 614/8 dec (Smith 159, Prince 110, Rafique 3/93) & 113/2 (Gibbs 51, Amla 50*) lead Bangladesh 510 (Rahim 134, Ashraful 93, Smith 3/58) by 227 runs

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/5...urrahimbu5.jpg

Wicketkeeper batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim hit a fine maiden century to put Bangladesh on the brink of safety. His brilliant 134 from 235 deliveries included 18 boundary fours and a single six. He gained lower order help from Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique as Bangladesh reached 500+ for the first time in their history as a test side.

Bangladesh started the day on 314/5, still 300 runs behind South Africa's 1st innings total. Rahim and Rafique continued their overnight stand of 83 to add another 82 runs before Bangladesh lost their first wicket of the day. Rafique made 63 from a steady 163 balls, before he was trapped lbw by Morne Mørkel. Rafique had made use of South Africa dropping him twice in the morning session, as their total of drop catches rose to 3.

Mortaza joined Rahim at the crease, and he soon found his stride. Rahim brought up 3 figures with a fine cover drive in 171 deliveries, celebrating in exuberant fashion by jumping in the air bat and helmet held aloft. Mortaza and Rahim put on 50 together before Rahim fell stumped by Boucher off the bowling of Botha, after 279 minutes at the crease.

Mortaza hit 41, with Reza backing him up with a good 26. Smith picked up his 3rd wicket with Mortaza lbw, Steyn got Reza caught at slip, and Mørkel bowled Hossain for 16 to bowl Bangladesh out for 510.

South Africa had time to make 113/2 in 26 overs. Both wickets falling to sloppy running. The two openers Gibbs and Smith both fell to run outs, Smith making just 2 before he was run out. Gibbs hit 51 from 56, including 6 fours as he notched up the pace a bit. Amla put on 77 with Gibbs, and made an unbeaten fifty of his own, finishing with 50* from 76.

South Africa lead by 227 runs, but on this flat wicket, most think it will be a draw. Graeme Smith will be looking for a 300 or so lead before declaring with enough time to bowl Bangladesh out.

Originally Posted by Shaggy Alfresco (Post 1500795)

I'd be a bit disappointed to let Bangaldesh get 500, no matter what the pitch.

Originally Posted by www.cricinfo.com

Bangladesh v South Africa, 1st Test, Mirpur, 5th day
South Africa held off by Aftab and late stand
Cricinfo Staff
February 26, 2008

South Africa 614/8 dec (Smith 159, Prince 110, Rafique 3/93) & 200/2 dec ( Amla 85*, Kallis 60*) drew with Bangladesh 510 (Rahim 134, Ashraful 93, Smith 3/58) & 220/8 (Aftab 85, Siddique 53, Kallis 2/36, Steyn 2/40)

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2...abahmedws5.jpg

Bangladesh held on by the skin of their teeth to manage a draw in the 1st of the two test series in Mirpur. Aftab Ahmed and Junaid Siddique both hit fifties as South Africa fell 2 wickets short of an expected victory. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis made unbeaten half centuries before Graeme Smith declared 304 ahead half way through the morning session. But crucial partnerships in the middle order and at the end were vital as Bangladesh managed to grab a draw after South Africa made a mammoth 614/8 dec in the first innings.

South Africa started the day on 113/2, Amla and kallis at the crease looking to push things on. They did just that as they scored 87 in the 17 overs they batted, a run rate of just over 5 runs per over. Amla finished on 85* from 128 deliveries and Kallis 60* from 63.

South Africa needed to take 10 wickets in the 74 overs left in the day's play. Makhaya Ntini got the early breakthrough in the 12th over, Nafees caught at slip by Smith for just 11. Morkel then got 2 in 3, dismissing Saleh for 8 and then the Bangladesh skipper, Mohammad Ashraful, for a 2 ball duck. Bangladesh were struggling at 53 for 3, still 53 overs from safety. Then came the crucial partnership between Siddique and Aftab of 67. It took Siddique 126 deliveries to reach a well deserved fifty, but he fell shortly after, Ntini claiming his 2nd wicket. Aftab continued to stay calm and he and the century maker from the 1st innings, Mushfiqur Rahim, put on 42 runs together.

Steyn then showed why he is one of the best bowlers in the world at the moment, dismissing Rahim first for 18 and then Rafique 3 balls later for a duck, both caught by Kallis at slip. Aftab stayed put whilst others fell around him, and he reached his 2nd half century in the game from 93 balls. From 121 for 4 and Aftab and Siddique settled at lunch, Bangladesh had fallen to 163 for 6 and looked in big trouble, still 14 overs from safety and with the bowlers now at the crease.

Mortaza came in and put on a decent partnership with Aftab and all looked to be comfortable again for Bangladesh. But the introduction of Jacques Kallis changed everything. Kallis took a wicket with his 2nd ball of his spell, Mortaza the man to go for 5. This brought Reza to the crease, and with the field in a very attacking mode he surprisingly took advantage by hitting a few fours. Kallis though put Bangladeshi hearts in their mouths, getting rid of Aftab for 85 15 balls from safety. But number 10 Hossain was positive and hit 15 runs, including a huge six over midwicket, from just 10 balls to get his side home.

South Africa will be disappointed with the result, especially after making 600+ in the 1st innings. On the other hand, Bangladesh will be extremely happy with their batting and the way they conducted themselves under pressure. South Africa will need to improve their bowling for the 2nd test to make sure they clinch what was predicted as an easy series win for the visitors.