Bangladesh opener Mahfijul Islam was dismissed off the first ball of his Test debut against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday, November 15, giving Kagiso Rabada an immediate breakthrough and a place on a rare bowling list.
Mahfijul edged Rabada’s opening delivery to Marco Jansen at gully and departed for a golden duck zero runs from the first ball he faced according to the match scorecard.
Fourth debutant dismissed on a Test’s opening ball
The 22-year-old became the first Bangladesh batter, and the fourth player in men’s Test history, to be dismissed on the opening ball of a match on debut, The Times of India reported.
The distinction is narrower than being dismissed first ball on debut: it concerns a debutant facing the very first delivery of the entire Test.
South Africa’s Jimmy Cook fell to Kapil Dev in Durban in 1992, West Indies opener Leon Garrick was dismissed by Allan Donald in Kingston in 2001, and Afghanistan’s Abdul Malik fell to Blessing Muzarabani in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
Malik’s dismissal occurred on March 2, 2021, as confirmed by the Afghanistan Zimbabwe scorecard. The Times of India’s latest report incorrectly dates that incident to 2019.
Rabada joins Vogler, Donald and Steyn
The Times of India reported that Rabada became the fourth South African bowler to take a wicket with the first legal delivery of a men’s Test, joining Bert Vogler, Allan Donald and Dale Steyn.
Vogler dismissed England’s Tom Hayward at the Oval in 1907. Donald removed Garrick in 2001, while Steyn dismissed England opener Andrew Strauss with the opening ball in 2010, according to the report.
Bangladesh chose to bat at the Wanderers
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bat in the opening match of the two-Test series, The Associated Press reported. Mahfijul was handed his debut at the top of the order.
Rabada subsequently dismissed Mominul Haque for a duck and removed Shanto in the ninth over, leaving Bangladesh at 22 for three during the opening session, according to The Times of India. That was an early-innings position, not the final score.
The second Test is scheduled to begin in Centurion on November 23, according to AP.
