Proteas pair punish Tigers

Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher hit centuries to put South Africa in a strong position against Bangladesh at Centurion.

Prince and Boucher both score tons on second day

Second Test Match
Centurion Park
Bangladesh 250 (Junaid Siddique 67, Mushfiqur Rahim 65, M Morkel 4-73, M Ntini 4-32) v South Africa 357-5 (A G Prince 115 no, M V Boucher 102 no, H M Amla 71) Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher hit centuries to put South Africa in a strong position after the second day against Bangladesh at Centurion. The sixth-wicket pair shared an unbroken 223-run partnership as the hosts recovered from 134-5 to reach the close at 357-5 in their first innings, a lead of 107. The stand broke the previous South African record for the sixth wicket of 200, set 38 years ago by Graeme Pollock and Tiger Lance. Prince finished unbeaten on 115, his 10th Test century, and was well supported by Boucher's 102 not out.

Collapse

South Africa had added just 27 runs to their overnight position of 20-1 when they lost skipper Graeme Smith (27), trapped lbw by Mahbubul Alam (1-64). Hashim Amla and an out-of-sorts Jacques Kallis ground out a 65-run, fourth-wicket alliance either side of lunch before Shakib Al Hasan (3-77) prompted a mini-collapse in early afternoon. The left-arm spinner removed Kallis, Amla and AB de Villiers in the space 17 deliveries to reduce South Africa from 112-2 to 134-5, still 116 behind. Kallis (24) missed a straight ball to be bowled via the pad, Amla (71) gave a catch off bat-and-pad to Imrul Kayes at silly point, and de Villiers (0) was stumped after running down the pitch and missing his second delivery.

Turnaround

From that point, however, experienced campaigners Prince and Boucher took charge of the situation, seeing South Africa through to tea at 192-5. And they plundered a further 165 runs in the final session to build a solid advantage for the Proteas. Prince was first to reach his hundred, a 148-ball effort that featured 14 fours and a six, with Boucher following suit shortly before the close. The wicketkeeper's fifth Test ton - but first for almost five years - came from 158 balls and included 14 fours.