South Africa left Bangladesh for home on Monday night, a day before the scheduled time for their departure, with some frustrations after completing their month-long full-fledged cricket series involving two T20I, three ODI and two Tests in Dhaka and Chittagong.
The visitors came here on June 30 and wrapped up their Bangladesh tour campaign on August 3 playing out a first-ever series draw in the two-match Tests on day five in Dhaka.
The Test series was fruitless 0-0 which Hashim Amla, South Africa Test skipper, termed “unfulfilled ambitions” caused by insistent monsoon rain as it ruined six days play out of ten in the Tests. Rains spoiled last two days of Chittagong Test while four in Dhaka. Losing five rating points, the number one ranked team in the Test rankings drop from 130 to 125. Proteas captain Hashim Amla expressed his frustration saying, “It was a difficult one to understand,” why South Africa lost points in the ICC rankings after most of their Test series against Bangladesh was washed out.
Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim also shared his disappointed view to press, despite his side’s raised Test rating points tally to 47 from 41 for their plucky performance in both the matches.
Mushfique said, “We’ve lost opportunities……when the game is against the number one side, and we could have learnt a lot, we lost that opportunity.”
Bangladesh’s World Cup hero Mahmudullah Riyad lamented, a day before the match was finally spoiled, over the loss of play due to rain.
“Playing against the number one Test side could have been valuable experience as a growing team,” Mahmudullah said. “It would have helped us immensely had there been ten days of cricket, whether we won, lost or drew the matches. We would have played ten days against the best team in the world, and tested our skills better against them.”
With this series result, a win in the Test format remains untouched for the ninth ranked Bangladesh against the number one South Africa among their 10 Test tussles, but the home side achieved a 2-1 historic success in the ODI series, following a 2-0 loss in the T20I series in the tour.
The Tigers crushed South Africa by 9 wickets in the 3rd ODI, following a 7-wicket win in the second match to seal the first ever ODI series victory against the Proteas in their full-fledged month-long National Polymer Cricket Series. The Tigers bounced back in the three-match ODI series after conceding a humiliating 8-wicket defeat in the first match.
Bangladesh maintained their number 7 place in the ICC ODI rankings with 96 points by virtue of the three-match ODI series win against the visitor
However, South African bowler Dale Steyn enjoyed most of his success in the second Test as he joined in a selected group of bowlers to claim 400 wickets. He claimed the wicket of Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal on day one, to become the second South African in the 400-wicket-club after Shaun Pollock who took 421-wicket in his career, and the 13th overall.
Including his six wickets in the two-match Tests, Steyn has bagged 402 wickets from 80 matches with best 7 for 51.
