On a fresh pitch with an even covering of grass in Abu Dhabi, South African pacers made short work of the Bangladeshi batting unit on Tuesday and gave their team a comprehensive win that has further strengthened their push towards the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021.
The Proteas dominated their way through the first half and were also quite comfortable in their short chase outside a few nervy hiccups earlier on. They dismantled the hapless Bangladesh batting line-up to just 84 and then reached the paltry target with six wickets intact and more than six overs to spare.
It was just the right track for Proteas’ lead quicks Kagiso Rabada (3/20) and Anrich Nortje (3/8) to come in and fire in all cylinders with the ball. The kind of movement on offer from the surface wouldn’t have been expected by the two pacers in Abu Dhabi. But once they got the ball in hand, they didn’t let any of the Bangladesh batters settle in and triggered their early departure.
The duo shared six wickets between them while conceding less than 30 runs from their total of 7.2 overs. It was fantastic viewing for fast bowling lovers as they out-classed the struggling Bangladesh batters.
To make matters worse for Bangladesh, they had to also contend with in-form wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi (2/21), who gave his side next to nothing off his four overs and troubled their batters throughout his spell. The lead Proteas spinner has been magnificent in this T20 World Cup, taking six wickets from his four outings while maintaining an economy rate of just 6.46.
Keshav Maharaj (0/23) and Dwaine Pretorius (1/11) also bowled tight spells to never let the Bangladesh innings off the hook. Only two of their batters – Liton Das (24) and Mahedi Hasan (27) – breached the 20-run mark in one of their most disappointing batting acts in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Given the way Group 1 is set up in the Super 12s stage, it was expected that South Africa would look for as big an NRR boost as possible after dismissing Bangladesh for just 84. But they had to take the circumspect route with the bat during powerplay as the surface still offered good pace and seam movement for the quicks.
Taskin Ahmed (2/18) and Shoriful Islam (0/15) made the ball talk, and that resulted in the early departure of Reeza Hendricks (4), Quinton de Kock (16) and Aiden Markram (0). But thereafter, with the spinners coming on, it got easier to bat. From 33/3, Proteas reached 80 without any further hiccup as Rassie van der Dussen (22) batted calmly with skipper Temba Bavuma (31*).
Bangladesh lacked an extra specialist seamer in their attack to make life more difficult for Dussen and Bavuma. With that option not available, they had to go to their spinners Hasan (1/19) and Nasum Ahmed (1/22) – but though they took a wicket each, they were quite expensive and released the pressure that the seamers had exerted.
Dussen got out near the finish, but Bavuma and David Miller (5*) took their team through to victory, which has taken SA to second place in the Group 1 points table with three wins from their four matches. But most importantly, with an NRR of +0.742 – which is better than both Australia (-0.627) and West Indies (-1.598).
This defeat ended the campaign for Bangladesh and ended any hope left for Sri Lanka to make it through.
Brief scores
Bangladesh 84/10 in 18.2 overs (Hasan 27; Nortje 3/8, Rabada 3/20) lost to South Africa 86/4 in 13.3 overs (Bavuma 31*, van der Dussen 22; Ahmed 2/18) by 6 wickets
