Taijul Islam picked up his 13th five-for in Test cricket to give Bangladesh some hope despite their same old batting woes at the end of the first day’s play against South Africa after being bundled out for 106 in their first innings at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Monday.

South Africa scored 140/6 as bad light forced an early stump, the hosts trail by 34 runs.

Hasan Mahmud, the only pacer in Bangladesh’s playing XI, dismissed Proteas skipper Aiden Markram (6) in the very first over. After that, it was all Taijul show in Mirpur.

South African batters failed to utilise the start they got, courtesy of Taijul’s regular breakthroughs.

Tony de Zorzi (30) was the top scorer for the visitors while Tristan Stubbs (23) and Ryan Rickelton (27) contributed significantly.

Earlier, it was the same old show with the bat as Bangladesh were bundled out for 106 inside two sessions, their fifth-lowest total at home in Test cricket.

Morning showed the day for Tigers as they kept losing at regular intervals from the very beginning of their innings after opting to bat first with eight batters in the playing XI.

Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who replaced Zakir Hasan, was the top scorer with 30 to his name. He was the only batter showing  some resistance against Proteas’ bowling attack.

Apart from Mushfiqur Rahim (11) and Mehidy Hasan (13), no other recognised batter reached the double-digit mark.

The majority of the damage was done by the two Proteas fast bowlers - Wiaan Mulder and Kagiso Rabada - in the morning session when they left Bangladesh six down before lunch.

Taijul and Nayeem Hasan put on 26 runs for the ninth wicket - the highest partnership of the innings - to take Bangladesh beyond 100. The hosts added 46 runs and lost four wickets after lunch. Taijul scored 16 with two boundaries.

For the visitors, Mulder, Rabada and Keshav Maharaj picked up three wickets each. Rabada became the quickest bowler (in terms of balls bowled) to reach 300 Test wickets on the day.

Meanwhile, the ongoing Test is being held with minimum crowd attendance and heavy security due to protests ahead of the game relating to Shakib Al Hasan.

Tickets which used to cost Tk 100 are not available and many claimed that double the regular price is being asked. Chaos ensued with verbal exchanges between security officials and fans.

When complaints were made to Army personnel deployed at the gates, they facilitated entry for the students in the Eastern gallery with tickets that were priced at Tk 100.

A BCB official on conditions of anonymity said that they have limited the number of free entries for students due to security concerns.