Debutant Rabada's six-wicket haul sinks Bangladesh
South Africa cruised past Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the first ODI in emphatic fashion as their batsmen made light work of the below-par target. The match had a very delayed start due to rain and was reduced to 40-overs per side.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and surprisingly elected to bat first on a damp surface. The 20-year-old debutant Kagiso Rabada stuck early in the 4th over to remove Tamim Iqbal for a duck. But then came the big shock as the youngster picked two more wickets off his next two balls to pick up a hat-trick.
He then took another wicket in the 8th over to have Bangladesh reeling at 40 for 4. From there, the home side never recovered and got bundled out for 160. Rabada went on to pick two more wickets and ended up with dream figures of 6 for 16 off his 8 overs. He thus registered the best figures for a debutant in ODI Cricket beating the previous record set by Fidel Edwards when he picked 6 wickets for 22 runs.
Chasing 161 to win, Hashim Amla got out early for just 14. Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock steadied the ship before the young wicket-keeper batsman got our for 35. T20 skipper Faf du Plessis ensured that there were no further hiccups as his unbeaten 63 guided South Africa home. Rilee Rossouw made an unbeaten 45 off 53 deliveries at the other end.