Bangladesh vs. South Africa, 1st Test: Day 3 Takeaways

Another day, another session interrupted by rain. South Africa will resume the fourth day of the first Test against Bangladesh on 61 without loss after dismissing their opponents for 326 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

It means the visitors still have a small deficit of 17 to erase before they can start thinking about how best to approach the remainder of the match if they are to get a positive result.

Openers Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl have seen of some of the new ball and sit on 28 and 33, respectively. South Africa's lack of patience has been a big sticking point in this series thus far. They will need to find a way not only to counter impatience, but also the dodgy weather, which looks set to interrupt afternoon sessions for the remainder of both days.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the takeaways from Day 3 in Chittagong.

Dale Steyn finds his mojo

It took until the Bangladesh innings was starting to peter out for Dale Steyn to find his aggression. He hadn’t bowled quite as quickly and accurately earlier on, but that might have been down to the fact that he’d not played competitive cricket since the Indian Premier League finished.

Steyn managed three wickets in the first innings, one off the landmark 400. South Africa will be hoping that he can find that aggression at the start of the second innings, too.

No triple figures for any batsman

So far, not a single player has managed to get into triple figures. Bangladesh showed a bit more patience than South Africa but didn’t manage to convert their starts.

You just get the feeling that whichever players manage to break through the barrier and get a hundred will have played a match-saving and possibly a match-winning knock for their team.

Did you know you could take a catch in front of the stumps?

Cricket is a great game for many reasons. One of those reasons is the game’s idiosyncrasies. When Quinton de Kock reacted sharply to catch Liton Das behind and the decision was referred upstairs, a few people might have been wondering whether that sort of thing was allowed within the laws of the game.

The answer, of course, is that it is.   

Vernon Philander keeps it tidy

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For some time now, it’s always been Morne Morkel’s job to keep the run rate down while Steyn and Philander attack. Morkel was still pretty tidy, but so was Philander. His economy rate of 2.00 brought him rewards in the form of two wickets and showed how effective the bowling attack can be when Morkel takes on the role of roughing up batsmen and getting under their skin.

Stiaan van Zyl needs to make an impact

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Stiaan van Zyl has been earmarked as the man to open South Africa’s batting for some time yet to come. He made a good start in the first innings before an innocuous ball saw the end of him.

Things are only going to get tougher after the Bangladesh tour as South Africa travel to India and host England, so a good knock will do wonders for his confidence.