ARTICLE AD BOX
South African and Bangladesh players during Emerging four-day game. (Screengrab/ X)
In the heat of the moment during the game between Bangladesh vs South Africa, emerging four-day match players from both sides, Ripon Mondal and Tshepto Ntuli, respectively, have gotten themselves into a physical altercation on Wednesday in Dhaka. The incident occurred after Ripon hit Ntuli for a six, exchanged a glance with the bowler, and as Ripon was batting towards his partner, Ntuli charged towards the batter.
In addition to the words exchanged, both players also shoved each other. Despite one of the umpires intervening, both players continued. It was the players and the other umpire, too, who came between the duo to calm down the tension. “This is extreme, this is unacceptable. Normally, we see verbal altercations in a cricket field, but we don’t often see a scuffle. Ntuli struck Ripon’s helmet at one point,” one of the on-air commentators said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.
Things got out of control between Tshepo Ntuli and Ripon Mondol during the SA Emerging vs Bangladesh Emerging match today and the umpires were forced to intervene pic.twitter.com/EhYC6KVj4u
— Werner (@Werries_) May 28, 2025
Three balls after the incident, Ripon fended off one of the deliveries which went to Ntuli, who threw it immediately back after he picked it up, and Ripon managed to put the bat in a way just in time. According to Cricinfo, the match referee will submit a report to both the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Cricket South Africa, who are expected to take further action on the matter. This has not been an isolated incident in the series. Earlier during the one-day leg, both Andile Simelane and Jishan Alam were suspended for a game.
South Africa has lost the one-day series 2-1, and the first four-day game between both sides ended up in a draw. In the ongoing game, Bangladesh has posted 371 runs with Iftakhar Hossain Ifti scoring 109. Ripon himself, coming down the order, made the valuable contribution of 43 runs. Andile Mokgakane was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with four wickets. Ntuli himself picked up three wickets. In response to Bangladesh’s 371, South Africa are 152/6.