- South Africa 61 for 0 (Van Zyl 33*, Elgar 28*) & 248 (Bavuma 54, Mustafizur 4-37) trail Bangladesh 326 (Mahmudullah 67, Steyn 3-78) by 17 runs
Although rain interrupted parts of the one-day series and brought an early end to two of the three days in this Test, it had its first proper say of the tour when the fourth day’s play was washed out without a ball being bowled. The lost day has left a delicately poised match headed for a draw, even if play is possible on the final day.
South Africa’s openers had all but wiped away their deficit in the second innings and were set up to build a target for Bangladesh, whose attack had successfully tied them down in the first innings. Bangladesh would have been looking to do the same on Friday and give themselves something to chase on the final day, while South Africa were scoring quicker than they had previously and looked ready to dangle a carrot and give their bowlers something to defend.
All that may not happen with only a day to play and two innings to get in. South Africa will likely look to bat out the final day, which will leave Dale Steyn on 399 wickets, with the chance to get to the 400 milestone in Dhaka next week. It will also leave Bangladesh disappointed after they put on their most commanding display in the longest format against South Africa and dominated large sections of the match. Perhaps the biggest what if will be what if the series was not scheduled in the monsoon.