South Africa won the first Test of the series in Dhaka, defeating Bangladesh by seven wickets. Bangladesh found it difficult to catch up as they bundled the hosts for 106 in the first innings. Despite taking three wickets between Kagiso Rabada, Wiaan Mulder, and Keshav Maharaj, South Africa’s opening day ended poorly as they lost six wickets for a total of just 140 runs at the end of play.
But South Africa took a big lead thanks to a fantastic 119-run partnership between Kyle Verreynne and Mulder. Mulder scored 54 runs and Verreynne scored 114, giving the visitors a commanding 202-run lead. After a weak performance in the first innings, Bangladesh’s much improved batting in the second innings was insufficient.
The middle-order was exposed early when the top-order failed for the second consecutive time. They were reintroduced into the match by Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Jaker Ali, who each scored 97 and 58 runs to help Bangladesh reach 307 and set up a target of 106 for South Africa.
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After losing three wickets in the short chase, the Proteas won the game to gain a significant 1-0 lead and boost their standing in the World Test Championship standings.
Fourth place on the WTC table goes to South Africa.
With Australia and India, the current top two, playing each other in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, South Africa has a good chance of making it to the finals, having moved up to number four on the WTC points table. The remaining games must be won by South Africa.
Here’s the latest WTC 2023-25 Standings
Pos. | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points | PCT (%) |
1 | India | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 98 | 68.06 |
2 | Australia | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 90 | 62.50 |
3 | Sri Lanka | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 60 | 55.56 |
4 | South Africa | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 47.62 |
5 | New Zealand | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 48 | 44.44 |
6 | England | 19 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 93 | 43.06 |
7 | Bangladesh | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 30.56 |
8 | Pakistan | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 25.93 |
9 | West Indies | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 18.52 |