Bangladesh restricted to 194 as Afif’s 72 not enough
Mohammad Isam20-Mar-2022
Kagiso Rabada’s second five-wicket haul along with fifties from Quinton de Kock and Kyle Verreynne helped South Africa beat Bangladesh by seven wickets and level the three-match ODI series at 1-1.The home side reached the target of 195 in 37.2 overs, with de Kock top-scoring with 62 and Verreynne remaining unbeaten on 58.South Africa’s fast bowlers used the short ball to good effect as the visitors’ top order was blown away. Bangladesh were 34 for 5 in the 13th over and that they reached closer to 200 was down to Afif Hossain’s 72 off 107 balls.While chasing, de Kock set the platform when he went after Taskin Ahmed with a six over wide long-on, and then hit him for two fours. He then swept Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a four before lofting him over covers for his second six. South Africa got off to a good start, and Jannemann Malan, who had struck two fours early and began aggresively, played the second fiddle.de Kock then struck three fours in a row off Shoriful Islam, before hitting two more fours as brought up his 28th fifty off 26 balls. Soon after his fifty, the left-hander was dropped by Mushfiqur off Mehidy, when he was on 54.Mehidy, however, made up for the dropped chance by picking up the wicket of Malan in the 13th over, but by then the openers had added 86 runs. Malan was bowled for 26 when he missed a sweep. Shakib Al Hasan dismissed de Kock when Afif intercepted his slog sweep, and then hopped near the boundary rope to take the catch.South Africa captain Temba Bavuma and Verreynne didn’t allow Bangladesh to make further in-roads, as they shared an 82-run stand for the third wicket. Both struck the ball sweetly once settled, with Verreynne hitting Taskin for two sixes over square-leg, and Bavuma also targeting the same bowler. Taskin had an off-day as he was hit for four sixes, the most in a match in his ODI career.Bavuma got out with 19 runs needed for the win, as Verreynne and Rassie van der Dussen completed the formalities.Earlier, South Africa’s fast bowlers ripped through the Bangladesh top order, with Rabada inflicting three early blows and Lungi Ngidi getting Tamim Iqbal in the third over. Tamim’s forward prod met with the extra bounce and resulted in a simple catch for Keshav Maharaj running in from backward point.Shakib Al Hasan succumbed to Rabada’s hint of extra bounce, top-edging a catch to Verreynne at cover. The in-form Litton Das tried to get Bangladesh out of trouble, but he too was undone by Rabada’s short ball. Rabada cramped Litton for room, having the batter nicking off to de Kock.Rabada continued the bouncer barrage when he had Yasir Ali hopping to one in his sixth over, resulting in another easy catch for Maharaj. Left-arm quick Parnell got into the act when he snuck one through Mushfiqur Rahim’s bat and pad. Parnell’s first international wicket since 2017 left Bangladesh at 34 for 5 in the 13th over.Parnell, however, left the field in his next over, grabbing his left hamstring. Suddenly, South Africa were a bowler short, which meant Bavuma, who has never bowled before in an ODI, had to roll his arm over.Afif and Mahmudullah, however, couldn’t quite take advantage of the depleted attack. The stand of 60 runs ended when Mahmudullah gave Malan a catch at leg-slip in the 28th over.Mehidy and Afif were more fluent during their partnership. Afif struck his second ODI fifty, while Mehidy made 38 off 49 balls, including two slog-swept sixes off Maharaj. The duo added 86 runs for the seventh wicketAfif struck the ball really well through the covers, getting five of his nine fours through that region. He batted with discipline for most of the innings, particularly checking his shots on the leg side.Both Afif and Mehidy were dropped in the 41st over. Malan dropped Mehidy on 21 at long-on, while Bavuma dropped Afif off his own bowling. Afif was on 59 at that point.Rabada then got both Afif and Mehidy in his last over, both playing needless shots when they could have seen off Rabada and instead attacked the other bowlers.Rassie van der Dussen bowled the penultimate over and took Shoriful Islam’s wicket with his second ball in ODI cricket.
