March 02, 2008	Sunday	Safar 23, 1429

CHITTAGONG (Bangladesh), March 1: After setting an opening partnership record and declaring their first innings on 583 for seven, South Africa also posted a wicket-keeping record on the second day of the second Test against Bangladesh here on Saturday.

With two catches behind, wicket-keeper Mark Boucher overtook Adam Gilchrist and took his tally for Test wicket-keeping catches to 401, helping South Africa restrict Bangladesh to 60 for three at the close.

Earlier Skipper Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie set a world record of 415 for an opening stand.

Pace bowler Dale Steyn took all three Bangladesh wickets for 14 runs to reach 100 wickets in just 20 Tests.

At the start of Bangladesh’s second innings Tamim Iqbal (14) was caught at slip by A.B. de Villiers off a ninth-over delivery from Steyn.

Boucher caught opener Junaid Siddique (18) and captain Mohammad Ashraful for a duck off two consecutive deliveries from Steyn, to set his record.

Smith was on 231 and McKenzie on 170 in the morning when they surpassed the record of 413 for the opening wicket set by Indian pairing Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy against New Zealand at Chennai in January 1956.

South Africa were 570 for five at tea and lost Boucher (21) and Robin Peterson (4) to left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique, who was playing his last international and removed them in consecutive overs to make his Test tally to 100 wickets, a record for his side.

Graeme Smith declared the innings just after Junaid Siddique caught Peterson at slip off a Rafique delivery. Rafique also removed Boucher, caught at cover.

Shahadat Hossain finally dismissed McKenzie for 226, then trapped Hashim Amla for 38 and bowled Ashwell Prince for two in his two subsequent overs. Saqibul Hasan then bowled de Villiers for one.

Razzak made the breakthrough in the first session of the day bowling Smith for 232 with South Africa plundering runs on a flat batting pitch to the frustration of the Bangladesh bowlers.

It was only the second time a pair of openers had both notched double centuries in a Test. The first pair to achieve the mark were Australia’s Bill Lawry (210) and Robert Simpson (201) against West Indies in Barbados in 1964-65.

Smith faced 414 balls, smashing 33 boundaries and one six in his innings.

The opening pair’s run spree put South Africa in a strong position to complete a series whitewash after a five-wicket win in the first Test.

Smith enjoyed a personal landmark becoming the latest South African to reach 5,000 Test runs, joining Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs. He also became the first South African to score four double hundreds, surpassing the record he had shared with Kirsten.

Steyn said his bowling plan worked well too.

“We basically forced the batsmen to play shots that they shouldn’t have played,” he said.

“We are just planning to bowl them out cheaply and put them to bat again and win the match,” he added.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings, overnight 405-0):

N.D. McKenzie b Shahadat 226

G.C. Smith b Razzaq 232

H.M. Amla lbw b Shahadat 38

J.H. Kallis not out 39

A.G. Prince b Shahadat 2

A.B. de Villiers b Saqibul 1

M.V. Boucher c Saqibul b Rafique 21

R.J. Peterson c Mushfiqur b Rafique 4

EXTRAS (B-10, LB-7, W-1, NB-2) 20

TOTAL (for seven decl, 161.1 overs) 583

FALL OF WKTS: 1-415, 2-514, 3-515, 4-519, 5-524, 6-579, 7-583.

DID NOT BAT: M. Morkel, D.W. Steyn, M. Ntini.

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 28-4-92-0; Shahadat Hossain 25-1-107-3 (2nb); Mohammad Rafique 44.1-1-132-2 (1w); Abdur Razzaq 31-1-129-1; Saqibul Hasan 25-4-68-1; Mohammad Ashraful 3-0-20-0; Aftab Ahmed 5-0-18-0.

BANGLADESH (1st Innings):

Tamim Iqbal c de Villiers b Steyn 14

Junaid Siddique c Boucher b Steyn 18

Shahriar Nafees not out 7

Mohammad Ashraful c Boucher b Steyn 0

Abdur Razzaq not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-6, NB-7) 13

TOTAL (for three wkts, 16 overs) 60

FALL OF WKTS: 1-39, 2-49, 3-49.

TO BAT: Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Rafique, Shahadat Hossain.

BOWLING (to-date): Steyn 8-2-24-3 (4nb); Ntini 3-0-13-0; Morkel 3-0-16-0 (3nb); Peterson 2-1-1-0.—Reuters