Captain Graeme Smith was happy for South Africa get some practice as they completed their first Test thrashing of Bangladesh.

The Proteas won by an innings and 129 run, a boost for Smith's min who next moth face a tour of Australia.

"It was our first Test for a while, and everyone got a bit of a run," he said. "Time in the legs is what is important.

"It was quite a difficult wicket, we had to work hard. We had to be disciplined and patient.

"It was a difficult wicket to force the pace on, and when we tried to do that on the second afternoon, with the middle order, we lost our way a bit.

"There were one or two careless shots. But 450, 500 was the total we wanted to declare on. We wanted to have a go at Bangladesh that afternoon."

South Africa eventually declared on 440 for nine.

"I also wanted the bowlers to bowl under a bit of pressure," Smith continued. "If you get 600, 650 on the board, there's a lot of freedom for them to just bowl, and we created a little bit of pressure there."

Smith was very happy with what he achieved personally, with his knock of 157 giving him the man-of-the-match award in his first Test since a bout of tennis elbow.

"For me, it's been a couple of months since I had any time in the middle," he said.

"To spend six hours at the crease was crucial. I've been feeling good in my own game for quite a while - I feel I'm in control of everything I've done, and it's just a matter of repeating that and a little bit of luck."

South Africa's bowlers also came in for a lot of praise, especially after they cleaned up Bangladesh's batsmen twice in four sessions, with Dale Steyn particularly impressive in picking up five second-innings wickets.

Smith said: "Makhaya (Ntini) was very good. His action looks good, he's got energy back in his body, he's got good pace and good bounce back, which is encouraging. He's back to where he was.

"Dale, it's his first outing in a long time in the longer form of the game. He got some good spells and he took eight or nine wickets in the Test, so he'll only get stronger and stronger. His skills are really good.

"(Jacques Kallis) bowled well and Morne (Morkel), we'd like him to keep progressing."

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful said his side had struggled with the wicket, and would bounce back in the second Test.

"The wicket was good, and it had a bit of bounce," he said. "We're not used to bouncy wickets, and our batsmen have to learn to be patient. The batsmen need to apply themselves more."

The second Test starts at Supersport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.