BBC SPORT | Cricket | Kirsten achieves landmark

1st Test, East London, day one: South Africa 369-2 (at close) v Bangladesh

Gary Kirsten has become the first player to score a century against all nine Test playing countries.

Kirsten went to his 15th Test hundred with a push to mid-wicket off the bowling of Sanwar Hossain and was unbeaten on 113 at close of play.

He took four hours to reach the mark and faced 160 balls, hitting eight fours.

"I didn't think I was going to get another crack at this one (the record), because I don't know how long I'm going to keep going," said 34-year-old Kirsten who made his Test debut in 1993.

"It was probably the most tentative I've been in my 15 Test hundreds as I got close to it. I just wanted to get there."

Kirsten put on 272 runs for the second wicket with Graeme Smith, who reached 200 before falling to Sanwar Hossain shortly in the final session of play.

The opener holed out at mid-on when he gave left-arm seamer Manjural Islam the charge.

Careless shot

Graeme Smith
Smith's innings promised much for the future

Herschelle Gibbs was the only batsman dismissed in the first two sessions, but his exit for 41 owed more to a careless shot than good bowling by Tapash Baisya.

Gibbs hit a six and six boundaries in an opening stand of 87 with Smith, but a long-hop proved his undoing as he picked out Tushar Imran at cover.

Bangladesh went into the game as clear underdogs, having lost 12 of their 13 Tests since being granted full-member status of the International Cricket Council two years ago.

Poor control

Skipper Khaled Mashud won the toss and chose to see if his bowlers could exploit a green-looking pitch.

Left-armer Manjurul bowled tidily, but 19-year-old Baisya lacked control in his second Test appearance.

Despite the wicket of Gibbs, he conceded runs too easily and had figures of one for 71 from 15 overs at tea.

The South Africans continued to dominate through Kirsten and Smith after the interval.

And Smith's dismissal owed more to the batsman's excitement at reaching his double hundred than the penetration of the Bangladeshi attack.

South Africa: Mark Boucher (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Martin van Jaarsveld, Claude Henderson, Mornantau Hayward, Makhaya Ntini, David Terbrugge.

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Al-Shariar, Tushar Imran, Sanwar Hossain, Khaled Mashud (captain), Manjurul Islam, Talha Jubair, Mohammad Rafique, Tapash Baishya, Alok Kapali.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Aus), Russell Tiffin (Zim)

TV umpire: Shahid Wadvalla (SA)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SrL)


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