When Bangladesh's 82-run, sixth-wicket partnership ended with a skier caught easily by JP Duminy, no one in the ground was more distraught than Shakib Al Hasan. The bowler, offspinner Simon Harmer, reckoned Shakib was trying to reach his fifty; the skier he offered two balls earlier strengthens that claim. Such dismissals can be derived in various ways but what Shakib had done in that moment does not really give away what he had done in the preceding two-and-a-half hours: he helped keep Bangladesh and Liton Das stay afloat.
The final assessment of their innings was almost similar to how Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah applied themselves on the second day but got out after getting settled at the crease. Shakib and Liton ensured that Bangladesh took the first-innings lead, got to their longest innings, and secured their highest score against South Africa. They were also at the crease when Bangladesh completed 100 overs in the first innings - their first time against South Africa. Bangladesh have now batted 100 overs against all Test playing nations. These are tiny factoids for many, but this is how a Test side builds confidence.
Liton was at the other end batting on 39 off 84 balls when Shakib got out. He faced 17 more deliveries and 7.1 more overs to reach his maiden Test fifty. He watched as Mohammad Shahid plundered four fours and a six in 28 minutes and got out trying another big hit. Though Liton's dismissal was perhaps a result of getting influenced by who he was batting with, Harmer deserves more credit for the wicket.
When Liton did have the guarantee of Shakib at the other end, he batted with more purpose. He had walked in with Bangladesh still 53 runs behind South Africa, and captain Mushfiqur Rahim just done in by Dale Steyn's mastery; he had made Mushfiqur drag towards a mentality to play leg-stump glides before making one dart back in from a short angle, trapping him plumb. Liton had to face arguably the world's most skillful fast bowler in addition to Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, with the knowledge that things had not gone to plan since his international debut in June.
Liton was asked to keep wickets in this game as Mushfiqur felt his finger injury from April had not healed enough. The team combination kept Soumya Sarkar, the Man of the Series in Bangladesh's historic ODI series win over South Africa less than a week ago, out of the playing XI. After his 44 on Test debut against India, Liton scored just 100 runs in six ODI innings and 32 runs in two T20s. In a batting line-up where everyone was grabbing their chances, Liton knew he was walking the tight rope.
He made just three runs in his first 54 minutes at the crease, consuming 40 balls. He faced more of Stiaan van Zyl and Harmer, but there were testing overs from Steyn, Morkel and Philander. Shakib, during this period, added 19 runs off 31 balls. He also kept most of his shots to himself until cutting and driving van Zyl in the 81st over. At the end of the 85th over, Liton finally got his first four, past a diving square-leg. Morkel set up the bouncer trap, knowing that the youngster liked to pull and hook. Liton, though, saw it a couple of times and did not flinch. He only ducked and kept the bat out of harm's way.
When Shakib took a single off the last ball of the 88th over, he made it Bangladesh's longest ever innings against South Africa. Remember, they had lost all eight of their previous Tests against South Africa, seven of which were innings defeats. Liton opened up a few overs later, driving Steyn absolutely straight with a high elbow to bring up Bangladesh's lead. This was only the fifth time in their Test history that they had gone past a team's score in the first innings, batting second. Liton stood still as he watched the ball go past Steyn's boot, the stumps and the mid-off and mid-on fielders.
That Bangladesh went to lunch losing just one wicket and batting at 2.61 was unusual, but in a good way. Shakib kept South Africa at bay when he could have easily favoured a more attacking approach knowing that Liton was the last recognized batsman. After the rain, Shakib was in his element with the two pulled boundaries, but he was largely calm, trying to play Liton in once again.
"Our plan was to cross their score and then take it from there. A batting partner is a batsman's friend. We were helping each other," Liton said. Since coming back from his suspension, Shakib has averaged 51 with the bat and is batting at a slightly higher strike-rate, too. He has scored three fifties and a century during this period of six Tests, and has often shown far more responsibility than he did till 2012.
Liton struck a boundary in the 99th over to give Bangladesh their highest score against South Africa, and the pair ensured they batted past the 100-over mark. Liton was happy with his contribution, but said that he had eyes on a bigger score.
"I wanted to make a bigger score. I was the only regular batsman at the time, the rest were lower-order batsmen," Liton said. "I think I played quite well, as long as I batted. I wanted to play the maximum number of deliveries with the bowlers. I tried to bat for the team. I think the 50 runs would help the team. I think maybe I made a wrong decision with the shot that got me out."
Liton came into Bangladesh's picture after a stellar 2014-15 domestic season. He was the top scorer in the National Cricket League and No. 2 on the scorer's list in the one-day Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League. With his style of play, he has blundered several top domestic attacks over the last 18 months.. Of course, the gap between Bangladesh's domestic scene and international cricket is huge, but Liton said that he still tried to replicate the way he scored in the domestic competitions last season.
"We get a lot of loose balls in domestic cricket, but it is the opposite in international cricket," Liton said. "The wicket was slow so it wasn't also easy to play shots. I had to be careful. There is a different need everyday so today the demand of the situation was for me to play this way. I am trying to play the way I play in domestic cricket. There's more pressure in international cricket."
Liton would not get to play many such innings in the future where the man at the other end bats with such care to ensure his partner's longevity under pressure. He should take help as much as he can because a time will come - it could even be in the second innings of this game - when he will have to bat as the senior, and shepherd the tail-enders through choppy waters.