Riding on Quinton de Kock’s ton, some brutal late
hitting from Heinrich Klaasen and bowlers’ brilliance South Africa registered a
massive 149-run victory over Bangladesh in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 match
at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
The Proteas also garnered a massive net run rate boost
with another emphatic win.
Defiant Mahmudullah was the only batter who stood tall
today for Bangladesh but his vigilant knock of 111 runs went in vain as other
batters failed to score big.
Gerald Coetzee was the destructor-in-chief as he
returned with a 3-wicket haul while Lizaad Williams and Marco Jansen bagged two
wickets respectively.
While chasing a whopping total of 383, a promising
start to Bangladesh’s reply came to an end when Tanzid Hasan (12) gloved behind
a short ball from Marco Jansen.
Jansen then strangled Najmul Hossain Shanto along the
leg side on the next delivery.
Bangladesh’s chase lay in tatters as three wickets
fell in the space of an eight-ball blitz during the first powerplay.
The all-rounder fell short of a hat-trick when his
attempted yorker was converted into an easily defended full ball, but Lizaad
Williams kept the wickets coming by dismissing Shakib Al Hasan (1). The wickets
continued to fall as Gerald Coetzee dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim for 8.
Litton Das’ valiant battle came to an end when he was
caught leg-before by Kagiso Rabada for a 44-ball 22. Keshav Maharaj joined the
wicket-taking frenzy when he caught Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the deep for 11,
ending Bangladesh’s pursuit before it had even begun.
With a superb knock from number six, Mahmudullah
restored Bangladesh’s pride and helped his team avoid a record defeat. In a
pressure run chase, Mahmudullah brought up his 67-ball World Cup fifty with
Bangladesh seven wickets down.
Bangladesh veteran Mahmudullah slammed his fourth
one-day international hundred; his third in ODI World Cups. With the help of
the tail, Mahmudullah reached his own personal milestone with a high-class
century against South Africa’s weary attack, coming off 104 balls.
Bangladesh did have reason to celebrate at the finish
when Mahmudullah hit a century and the fans cheered in encouragement. However,
the centurion’s exit ignited a string of quick wickets as South Africa won by
149 runs.
Earlier, a 20th ODI hundred from de Kock and some
brutal hitting from Klaasen guided South Africa to a huge first-innings total
of 382/5.
De Kock finished with the second-highest World Cup
score by a South African batter, while Klaasen was also at his savage best to
give the Proteas a resounding total. A mind-boggling 217 runs were scored in
the final 20 overs, with 144 coming in the final 60 deliveries.
Brief score: South Africa 382/5 (Quinton de Kock 174,
Heinrich Klaasen 90; Hasan Mahmud 2-67) vs Bangladesh 233 (Mahmudullah 111,
Litton Das 22; Gerald Coetzee 3-62).
ANI
