The weather had the final say as the series ended in disappointing fashion
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Bangladesh and South Africa ended up sharing the series trophy after the fifth and final day of the second Test in Dhaka was abandoned due to a wet outfield.
Even though the rain had yet to arrive, the umpires believed that the ground was too waterlogged to play on, which led to the series ending as a 0-0 draw.
Bangladesh ended day one on 246/8 and remained on that score for the rest of the match. However, Proteas pace bowler Dale Steyn did benefit from the one day of play as it allowed him to become the 13th player to take 400 Test wickets.
Other than that, South Africa took nothing positive out of the series as they ended up losing five points on the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test team rankings. Even though they will continue to occupy the top spot, Bangladesh, who are ranked ninth, gained six points.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who was named Man of the Match, was disappointed that the series ended in such circumstances, and said: “There are a couple of areas we need to work on. Lot of positives as well, playing against the best team in the world, the boys will take lot of confidence out of that. It is a learning curve for us still in Test cricket, hopefully we can take some positives against the Australians. Hopefully that time the weather will be fine. There are a lot of sacrifices, Eid time we did not go to our homes, we will go to our families now and hopefully come back fresh again.”
South Africa skipper Hashim Amla was rather displeased that the weather had the final say, and said: “To have four days rained out is unusual. Whatever happened, happened. The cricket has been tough. We enjoyed our stay here. Dale getting 400 is the highlight for us. We thank the groundstaff, the amount of effort they put in to try and get some play. We have got a series against New Zealand to prepare for. Our bowlers really toiled, this was a tough wicket to bowl on. Everybody tried their best. One thing I cannot fault is the effort our team always gives.”
Steyn was named Player of the Series.