Bangladesh humbled by South Africa in T20 WC

 DHAKA -A clueless batting performance saw Bangladesh
concede a six-wicket defeat to South Africa in their fourth game of the Super
12 phase of the Twenty20 World Cup at Sheikh Jayed Cricket Stadium in Abu
Dhabi, UAE today.

   In a pitch that carried true bounce and pace, Bangladesh failed to show
patience and eventually were shot out for 84 in 18.2 overs. South Africa
however recovered from a shaky start to race to the victory with 39 balls to
spare, making 86-4.

   Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed got the pitch to his likings as he terrorized
South African top order with raw pace and bounce, leaving them tottering at
33-3 at the end of the first powerplay.

   But unlike the Bangladesh batters, South Africa showed the patience and
waited for loose deliveries that paid the rich dividends.

   After the bowling heroics of their two fast bowlers, Anrich Nortje and
Kagiso Rabada, Skipper Temba Bavuma led the way with 28 ball-31 not out,
smashing three fours and one six. Rassi van der Dussen was the other notable
scorer with 22.

   Taskin broke through in the first over, trapping Reeza Hendricks for 4 and
then Mahedi Hasan dismissed Quinton de Kock for 16.

   Taskin continued his good bowling to cripple South African batters and the
pressure resulted in the wicket of Aiden Markram, who forced to edge in the
first slip for naught.

   But Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen didn't bog down. With caution
and aggression, they brought the side back in contention, denying Bangladesh
put further pressure.

   Nasum Ahmed removed Dussen for 22 with South Africa five runs away of the
victory but Bavuma took the side home and kept the side's unbeaten record
against Bangladesh in T20 format intact. South Africa now won all seven
matches they played against Bangladesh in the shortest format of the cricket.

   However Bangladesh's batting let them down, causing their fourth straight
defeat in the Super 12s.

   South Africa fast bowlers, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada were the
wrecker-in-chief, claiming three wickets apiece with express pace that left
Bangladesh in a precarious position from the very beginning.

   The 84 was Bangladesh third lowest total in the T20 World Cup.

   Only three Bangladeshi batters could reach double digit figure, with
Mahedi Hasan top-scoring 27. Opener Liton Das made 24 while Shamim Patwari,
one of the two changes of Bangladesh from the previous game, made 11.

   Kagiso Rabada firstly tormented Bangladesh with raw pace that accounted
Naim Sheikh (9) and Soumya Sarkar in consecutive deliveries. He then undid
Mushfiqur Rahim with an extra bounce for duck and finished his first spell
with 3-14.

   Anrich Nortje began from where Rabada ended.

   Nortje's barrage of short balls were too much for Bangladesh. He firstly
took the wicket of captain Mahmudullah with a short ball, leaving Bangladesh
34-4. When it needed to show some patience, Afif Hossain played a wretched
shot in the first delivery he faced against Dwayne Petorious and saw his
stump rattled.

   Liton however showed the patience but was beaten off the air by left-arm
wrist spinner Tabriz Shamsi for 24.

   Shamim and Mahedi fought it hard but South African pacers were tough to
deal with. They are however the reason that Bangladesh avoided being
dismissed by their lowest World Cup total which was 70 against New Zealand in
Kolklata in 2016 T20 World Cup.

   Nortje however cleaned up the tail, taking out Mahedi and Nasum Ahmed in
consecutive deliveries in their penultimate over. Nortje eventually had
figures of 3.2-0-8-3 while Rabada returned form with 3-20 in four overs.BSS