Dhaka: Incessant rain washed out the entire second day’s play in the second and final Test between Bangladesh and South Africa in Dhaka on Friday.

The umpires abandoned play soon after the scheduled lunch break when the weather showed no signs of improving and rain continued to drench the covers guarding the Sher-e-Bangla stadium pitch.

Bangladesh, who won the toss and elected to bat, will begin the third day's play on Saturday at 246-8, weather permitting.

More rain has been forecast for the remaining three days of the match.

Cyclone Komen made a landfall on Thursday night and since then it has been raining non-stop in Dhaka. The umpires finally decided to call off play on Day 2 after rain showed no sign of abating.

Day three — if conditions are fit for play — will begin at the usual start time of 9:30am.

Bangladesh had earlier finished on a score of 246 for the loss of eight wickets after 88.1 overs at the end of Day 1, with Nasir Hossain batting on a score of 13. The highlight of the opening day was Dale Steyn taking his 400th Test wicket, dismissing Tamim Iqbal for the same.

Earlier in the Test, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat. While the hosts decided to replace Taijul Islam with Nasir Hossain, the Proteas opted to drop the out-of-form Quinton de Kock with Dane Vilas, who made his Test debut in the process. After surviving a dismissal chance, Tamim edged a Steyn delivery that was pitched wide outside off to Hashim Amla in the slips, giving Steyn his much-awaited milestone. Bangladesh however, recovered from the early blow and were going strong at a score of 180 for three, with skipper Mushfiqur Rahman (65) and Mominul Haque (40) leading the way for the hosts.

The Proteas however, struck back in the final session of the day, taking the key wickets of Mushfiqur, Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah (35 each), and dismissing wicketkeeper batsman Litton Das (3) and Mohammad Shahid (1) cheaply. Among the South African bowlers, JP Duminy (3 for 27) and Steyn (3 for 30) were the picks.