Maharaj spins out Bangladesh as Proteas stroll to convincing win

Keshav Maharaj turned on the spin on day five of the first Test at Kingsmead as SA thrashed a hapless Bangladesh by 220 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series on Monday morning.

Maharaj, who ended with an impressive 7/32, accounted for Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Yasir Ali, Taskin Ahmed and Khaled Ahmed.

This was player-of-the-match Maharaj's second-best career figures since he claimed 9/21 against Sri Lanka in 2018.

All the wickets in the innings fell to spin bowlers for the first time since the Proteas’ readmission to international cricket. Maharaj was supported by Simon Harmer who claimed the scalps of Shadman Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Day five started with Bangladesh on 11/3 and needing 263 runs to win, but this proved mission impossible for the tourists as Maharaj and Harmer took full advantage on a pitch ripe for spin.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 53 as SA registered their third win in 11 matches since 2008 at the venue, while the visitors scored the lowest total by anyone at the ground.

It took SA less than an hour in the first session to bowl Bangladesh out in 42 balls and register a thumping win that will give them confidence going into the second and final Test match at St George’s Park from Friday.

Though Maharaj and Harmer were impressive, Bangladesh were dreadful with the bat as they lasted just 19 overs and only two of their batters managed to get into double digits.

The first wicket to fall was experienced middle order batter Mushfiqur Rahim, trapped in front by Maharaj who was only beginning a good day at the office.

Maharaj continued to wreak havoc as he claimed the wickets of Liton Das for 2 and registered his fiver with the scalp of Yasir Ali for 5.

Harmer joined the party by removing Mehidy Hasan Miraz as Bangladesh continued to collapse and SA tightened their grip.

In the first innings, Bangladesh won the toss and put SA in to bat where they posted 367 with Temba Bavuma scoring 93 as he fell for the second time in the 90s.

The other notable scorers were Dean Elgar (67), Sarel Erwee (41) and Harmer, while Khaled Ahmed was Bangladesh’s best bowler with four wickets, followed by Mehidy Hasan with three.

With bat in hand, little-known Bangladesh opener Mahmudul sparkled with a defiant 137 while wicketkeeper Liton Das was the other notable contributor with 41, as they reached 298.

In SA's second innings of 204, Elgar was SA’s top scorer with 64 runs as the rest of the batters failed to kick on under pressure from Mehidy Hasan and Ebadot Hossain with three wickets apiece.

Bangladesh’s second innings made for sorry reading as Najmul Hossain Shanto was their notable scorer with 26.

Full scoreboard here

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