Back-to-back wickets from Hasan Mahmud finally give Bangladesh a breakthrough

Back-to-back wickets from young pacer Hasan Mahmud has finally given Bangladesh a breakthrough after steady work by Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder threatened to put South Africa in a dominant position in the Mirpur Test.

On Tuesday, Verreynne (77*) and Mulder (54) picked up where they left off, putting together an impressive 119-run partnership after bowlers took 16 scalps on the first day.

Their teamwork put the visitors in the driver’s seat for most of the session as the Proteas continued to rack up the lead.

But, a few overs before lunch, Hasan (3-51) changed the game. A teasing ball to Mulder drew the batsman into a swing and a thick outside edge carried it to Shadman Islam at wide slip.

With his next delivery – a fullish ball that started outside off before cutting back in sharply – he breezed past Keshav Maharaj’s edge to take out the stumps.

At lunch, South Africa stood at 243-8, leading by 137 runs in their first innings.

Verreynne will look to extend that lead further in the next session, while the Tigers will be looking to wrap up the innings quickly before delivering a more sturdy response in their second innings.