Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque rued for playing too many loose shots in the second innings, which according to him is the biggest reason of their humiliating 220-run defeat in the first Test at Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban on Monday.
The Tigers were wrapped up for just 53 in the second innings chasing a victory target of 274. It was their second lowest Test innings and also lowest in Durban, in which they came high on confidence after clinching their first ever ODI series victory on South African soil.
The expectation was also high on Bangladesh Test team, basically for their first Test win on New Zealand soil some months ago.
But the Test defeat to South Africa, who were without the service of their seven first choice players, brought Bangladesh down to the earth.
Mominul said the ultimate damage was done on fourth day when they were reduced to 11-3 after South Africa set them a 274-run target for a victory. He added that the target on fifth day was to play until the last session but they failed to do so.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj claimed 7-32 to sink Bangladesh and Simon Harmer further made their task tougher with 3-21.
“We tried to play according to the merit of the balls. We didn’t look for the result until the last session,” Mominul said after the match.
“But last night we lost three wickets which was crucial. You know we are used to playing spin in Bangladesh and knew that Durban offers spin from the third and fourth days. We didn’t capitalise well with the bat, played too many loose shots. We can make good partnerships as we showed in the first innings.”
