CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh (AP) — Despite a recent poor performance, Bangladesh are refusing to give up hope of a first Test win against South Africa as they prepare for the second and final match starting Tuesday.

After its historic 2-0 series win against Pakistan, Bangladesh failed to continue the good work in a series against India and the first match against South Africa.

Bangladesh were favored against South Africa as the Proteas had not won on the sub-continent since 2014, but a poor batting performance led to a seven-wicket defeat in the opener.

“There is definitely an objective and that is to win the second Test,” Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam said. “Our main goal is to play as a team. Be it bowling, batting or fielding, we will play as a team. We will do our best to win the match.”

The win kept South Africa unbeaten against Bangladesh with 13 wins and two draws in 15 Tests.

Bangladesh were dismissed for 106 in the first innings, which Taijul said determined the course of the game.

“Like I said before, it’s important to play as a unit. If we can put up two or three partnerships, if two or three batsmen can score a half-century or a century, then the target will be met,” he said. “Everyone is working hard and is determined to overcome these issues at bat. I hope we do well in this game.”

After ending their winning drought in the subcontinent, South Africa will now aim to take the series and boost their chance of reaching the World Test Championship final.

Stand-in captain Aiden Markram said the prospect of reaching the WTC final would not add pressure to his quest for a series win.

“I mean I don’t think it adds pressure for us. It’s just an exciting opportunity that could be,” Markram said. “So that’s kind of how we try to look at it. We probably have to win a lot of the remaining games and we have five more until then. Five test matches is a lot of cricket to be played.

“So that’s kind of where we are now. We hope to go session by session, game by game. We hope to give ourselves a good chance. But excited about what could go forward.”

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