A Fan in Dhaka...

Day Five

    By Jonathan Knowles

    It took less than five overs this morning for Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder to wrap up the Bangladeshi tail with Rabada's sixth wicket of the innings being that of Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 97 on the batsman's birthday. A total of 307 left South Africa with 106 to chase, exactly the same score as Bangladesh managed in their first innings.

    The tourists chased down the runs in 22 overs and won by seven-wickets before lunch to lead the two-match series 1-0. Kyle Verreynne was man-of-the-match for his 114 but other notable performances include Rabada's nine wickets in the match and Mulder's four (including the first three on day one) and 54 runs.

    A reasonable crowd was with me in the stadium to witness South Africa's victory. With five runs needed to win, the lunch vendor came out into the stands having reduced his food from 100 Taka to 30, much to general amusement. Even with the early finish, I still spent another two hours sitting with friendly local fans, being asked my name and from where I come, and smiling for selfies.

    It has been an absolute treat watching just over three days of exciting Test cricket with the Bangladeshi crowd and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. On the way back to the Metro station I bought myself a Bangladesh cricket shirt (US$2) from a vendor on the pavement as a memento of my wonderful time at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, which I will wear with pride next time I watch Bangladesh play (wherever that may be).

    The players have just arrived back at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, what an experience it's been staying here with them, the match officials and some of the media. Breakfast is where I manage to see everyone, although they sit in their own, private area at the back of the restaurant, which funnily enough has a TV showing highlights of the previous day's play.

    Not all of the South Africans come down for breakfast, but Dewald Brevis is always the first player to arrive. Aiden Markram wears his vest and the first thing he orders is an omelette (today he had horrible looking chicken sausages too.) All the players acknowledge my presence with either a smile or “good morning”. Umpire Joel Wilson sits quietly by himself wearing a black t-shirt with the ICC logo on the top right, and Shaun Pollock finishes his breakfast in about 15 minutes.

    I haven’t seen Temba Bavuma at breakfast, but I was in the swimming pool with him on Tuesday evening whilst he was swimming lengths. I asked if he was going to fit for the Chattogram Test to which he replied: “Hopefully so, hopefully so.” He was swimming lengths again last night after Mulder, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs had left the pool.

    I've seen Phil Simmons, Bangladesh’s new head coach, in the gym on both mornings I've been in there myself. I've also nearly bumped into Lungi Ngidi when getting out of the lift!

    I get the impression that the life of an international cricketer can become boring at times, especially when touring in Asia. Although the players are unable to wander around the streets at night like I can, they don't even eat at the hotel restaurant - so a lot of their time must be spent being confined to their rooms. I hope that they spend this afternoon at the bar next to the pool celebrating their well-deserved victory. I won't know because I'm going to explore more of Old Dhaka and its amazing atmosphere...

    As I was just about to click ‘send’ on this email, Kagiso came and had a five- minute chat with me, thanking me for coming to support them. How special!

+ Jonathan Knowles is a South African cricket fan living in London and a serial adventurer and traveller. If you are enjoying his Tour Diary please free to buy him a coffee. 😊