World Cup 2019: Bangladesh hand South Africa second consecutive defeat in the tournament
June 2, 2019
The Oval | Bangladesh v South Africa Bangladesh won by 21 runs
South Africa were looking to get their World Cup campaign back on track against Bangladesh after getting pasted in the tournament opener against England. An underwhelming performance now sees them at the bottom of the table and at serious risk.
After being put in to bat first, Bangladesh built on a brisk start from Souma Sarkar and ended up with their best ever ODI total. The 142-run third wicket partnership between Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim was Bangladesh's highest in World Cup matches and set things up for a death-overs flourish from Mahmudullah. That left South Africa with a record chase in the World Cups to win the match.
Bangladesh played well in portions but also could not take all the catches on offer and were genuinely helped by the South African middle order that just couldn't figure out how to get to 331. This defeat will sting a lot more because they didn't apply themselves in the slog overs leaking 30 runs in the 49th and 50th. The Proteas conceded 300 plus runs in consecutive matches and for the second match in succession, their chase faltered.
Man for man, Bangladesh had been better and the South Africans were never convincing as a group, notching the first win for a team from the sub-continent in this World Cup. Interestingly, this match followed the template that the World Cup matches were expected to and a match finally saw a full 100 overs being bowled in this edition.
Brief Scores
Toss: South Africa elected to field
Bangladesh 330/6 (50 overs)
Mushfiqur Rahim 78 (80), Shakib Al Hasan 75 (84)
A Phehlukwayo 2/52, Imran Tahir 2/57
South Africa 309/8 (50 overs)
Faf du Plessis 62 (53), JP Duminy 45 (37)
Mustafizur Rahman 3/67, Mohammad Saifuddin 2/57
Bangladesh won by 21 runs | Player of the Match: Shakib Al Hasan