Nearly every ball seemed to turn and cause trouble to South Africa's batters on the first evening. Yet, Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder had waded through by almost effortlessly adding 32 to head into stumps without any further damage. By the second morning, though, the same pitch seemed to have settled nicely for batting. Verreynne and Mulder applied themselves solidly against Bangladesh's spinners to eventually take their seventh-wicket stand to a decisive 119.
But even as the threat of three spinners loomed, it was Hasan Mahmud's pace and reverse swing which yielded Bangladesh their only two wickets of the session. However, South Africa had already marched their way to a 137-run lead by lunch, with Verreynne unbeaten on 77.
Bangladesh started the second day with Taijul Islam and Mahmud bowling in tandem. But there was almost no turn available for the left-arm spinner, even as Verreynne particularly looked assured against Mahmud, nudging him past mid-on for three in the second over of the day, before clipping and driving him for boundaries two overs later.
Next over, in the 46th, Taijul had Mulder poking, only for the outside edge to fall short of slip. That had as much to do with Mulder playing with soft hands, as with the slowness of the surface. Mulder and Verreynne adjusted to the pitch nicely, and went about calmly doing the job against both Taijul and offspinner Nayeem Hasan.
Both batters used the sweeps and the reverse sweep to great effect despite Nayeem turning the ball in appreciably at times. That was down to them taking a good stride forward to get to the pitch of the deliveries, and once set, confidently putting the ball away. Verreynne and Mulder played the sweep or the reverse sweep off 28 deliveries against Taijul, Nayeem and Mehidy Hasan Miraz on the second morning, and hit 45 runs off them, including seven boundaries.
Bangladesh posted a man close in at square leg to prevent the batters from earning comfortable singles from the sweep, and yet Verreynne got to fifty when he drilled one to the man there to get to fifty. Mulder got to his maiden Test half-century at the start of the 64th over, when he cut Nayeem for four behind point.
It was only in the over before that that Najmul Hossain Shanto brought Mahmud back into the attack, and in the over just after that Mahmud struck back to back. First, he pitched on a back of a length outside off, as the ball held its line. Mulder went for the punch, but edged to wide slip on 54. Next ball, Mahmud went much fuller, reversing the ball into Keshav Maharaj and beating his defence to uproot off stump.
But Verreynne remained undefeated into the lunch break, with No. 10 Dane Piedt blocking and pushing his way at the other end.
