ICC World Cup 2019: Match 5, South Africa vs Bangladesh, Review – Thoroughly professional Tigers thump the mighty Proteas

Not a lot of experts saw this result coming, although they expected Bangladesh to take this game all the way down. As it turns out, they became the first Asian side to win a game this World Cup and they did it some style. They handed South Africa their second consecutive defeat, which leaves them in a horrible position.

There were some concerns regarding Tamim Iqbal’s fitness, but he somehow managed to make it to the XI. He didn’t look very comfortable in the middle though as he just assisted Soumya Sarkar, who gave Bangladesh a good start against the new ball. The duo added 60 runs inside 9 overs before Tamim was dismissed.

Sarkar too fell just short of a half-century, which saw their two most experienced batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan in the middle. They played no catch-up cricket, instead they mixed caution with aggression brilliantly to take the side into a stupendously dominant position. The Proteas completely got blown away in the middle overs.

Their scoring rate was consistently above 6 and were clearly eyeing a total in excess of 350. The pair completed their individual half-centuries and also added 142 runs for the third wicket. Their partnership came to a close with Shakib getting dismissed for 75 and Mahmudullah took over the show. Even after Mushfiqur’s dismissal, he kept hammering the bowlers alongside the lower middle order.

Mahmudullah chipped in with a 33-ball 46 as the Tigers raised a mammoth 330 runs batting first, posing a very serious challenge. Phehlukwayo, Tahir and Morris picked up a brace each for the Proteas.

Mustafizur and Saifuddin steer Bangladesh to an unforgettable win

With Hashim Amla missing out, Markram and Quinton de Kock opened the innings for the Proteas. They worked out a decent opening stand and although the new ball bowling was brilliant, they piled up 49 runs for the first wicket. Their partnership ended on a catastrophic note with a horrendous miscommunication leading to De Kock’s dismissal.

Faf du Plessis displayed another brilliant batting performance and threatened to take the game away in no time. He added 52 runs with the young opener. Markram was closing in on a half-century before Shakib’s masterclass got the better of him. Faf took complete charge in the partnership with Miller and completed his first fifty of the tournament.

He too, unfortunately, fell in the spin trap, but this time it was Mehidy Hasan. After that, Rassie van der Dussen provided some momentum to the run chase alongside Miller, but the duo fell in quick succession and there was a mountain left for the Proteas to climb in the last 10 overs.

Duminy kept losing partners and Mustafizur Rahman was not making life easy for him. He kept battling till the end although the odds were in favour of the Tigers heading into the final 4 overs. Yet, once Duminy was dismissed in the 48th over, the result was just a formality.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 330/6 in 50 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 78, Shakib Al Hasan 75, Mahmudullah 46 n.o; Andile Phehlukwayo 2/52) bt South Africa 309/8 in 50 overs (Faf du Plessis 62, JP Duminy 45; Mustafizur Rahman 3/67, Mohammad Saifuddin 2/57). Result: Bangladesh won by 21 runs. Man of the match: Shakib Al Hasan.