Bangladesh shock South Africa at The Oval

Bangladesh stunned South Africa at The Oval to start their World Cup campaign with a fine 21-run victory.

Batting first, Bangladesh made 331 – their highest one-daytotal – with Mushfiqur Rahim scoring 78 and Shakib Al Hasan 75 in front of apassionate crowd strongly in their favour.

   

The pair put on 142 for the third wicket and, although bothfell in the final 15 overs, Mahmudullah helped power his side to the highesttotal of the tournament so far with an unbeaten 33-ball 46.

South Africa, who were sloppy in the field, threatened tocomplete the highest World Cup chase but lost wickets at crucial times.

Opener Quinton de Kock fell to a shambolic run-out early on,captain Faf du Plessis was bowled for 62 and Rassie van der Dussen wasdismissed in the 40th over for 41.

The Proteas still had slim hope with three overs left,batsman JP Duminy at the crease and 44 runs needed – but he played on offMustafizur Rahman for 45.

The defeat means South Africa have lost their opening twomatches at the World Cup, having been beaten by England in the opener onThursday.

The Proteas, who were chasing a target of 331 runs, managedto score 309 runs in their allotted 50 overs at a loss of eight wickets.

South Africa’s defeat meant they had lost their first twomatches of this World Cup following their 104-run thrashing by England inThursday’s tournament opener at the Oval.

The Proteas lost their first wicket in the 10th over whenQuinton de Kock (23) was run out by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim off MehediHasan.

At the end of 15 overs, South Africa were 75-1. AidenMarkram (45) was then bowled out by Shakib Al Hasan in the 20th over whileskipper Faf du Plessis was dismissed in the 27th over by Mehedi Hasan afterscoring 62 runs.

South Africa were 169-3 after 30 overs before losing thewickets of David Miller, van der Dussen and Phehlukwayo. They stood at 268-6after 45 overs.

Earlier, Bangladesh posted their highest one-dayinternational score as ferocious hitting from Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib AlHasan took them to 330 for six against South Africa.

Mushfiqur made 78 from 80 balls and Shakib’s 75 came from 84balls as the pair combined in a 142-run partnership.

That was Bangladesh’s highest World Cup stand and set thestage to beat their previous highest ODI total of 329 for six against Pakistanin 2015.

“We knew we needed to be patient enough to stay in and if wedid that we knew we would get bad balls to hit,” said Shakib during the inningsbreak of his impressive 142-run stand with Mushfiqur.

“With the bowling attack we have got everyone in thedressing room is believing we can defend this total.”

South Africa now need to set a new record by a winning teambatting second in a World Cup match — currently held by Ireland with 329 forseven against England in Bangalore in 2011 — if they are to tame the Tigers.

Bangladesh were 271-5 at the end of 45 overs.

They lost their first wicket in the 9th over when TamimIqbal was caught behind off Andile Phehlukwayo after scoring 16 runs. SoumyaSarkar, who contributed 42 runs off 30 balls, was dismissed in a similarfashion in the 12th over off Chris Morris’s bowling.

By the end of 15 overs, Bangladesh were 88-2 and scored 190runs by the 30th over without losing any further wickets.

Shakib Al Hasan, who scored a solid 75 runs, was bowled outby Imran Tahir in the 36th over. Mohammad Mithun (21) too fell prey to Tahir’sbowling in the 40th over.

Bangladesh lost their fifth player in the 42nd over whenMushfiqur Rahim (78) was caught by Rassie van der Dussen off Phehlukwayo. Inthe 49th over, Mosaddek Hossain was caught by Phehlukwayo off Morris aftercontributing 26 runs to his side’s total.

Earlier, South African skipper Faf du Plessis won the tossand decided his side would bowl first to Bangladesh.

Fast bowler Dale Steyn is still out with a shoulder injury,but spinner Imran Tahir, at 40 the oldest player in this edition of the WorldCup, made his 100th One-Day International appearance today.

“We’re playing the extra seamer today, so we want totry and attack Bangladesh with some extra pace. We want to take the learningsfrom the previous game. I thought he did really well to restrict a strongEngland batting line-up,” du Plessis said after the toss.

“Today we are playing a slightly different team.Obviously Hashim Amla got hit on the head so David Miller comes back in andthen the other change is Chris Morris, we’re trying to get some extra pace withthis wicket. There was a bit of extra bounce and we’re trying to make use ofthat,” he said, explaining the changes to the line-up.

BD skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said his team was feeling”pretty confident” and had “good preparation”.

“It’s a used wicket. It should be good to bat on.Depends on how we bat. Everyone is fit to play. Tamim is fit,” he saidafter the toss.

Tamim Iqbal, one of the team’s most prolific batsmen inrecent years, had received a blow on his left wrist in the nets on Friday.

There are also fitness concerns about Bangladesh fastbowlers Mashrafe (hamstring) and Mustafizur Rahman (calf), and allrounderMahmudullah (shoulder). Bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin is also expectedto play on painkillers for a back complaint.

This is Bangladesh’s first Cricket World Cup 2019 match,while South Africa got their first-game nerves out of the way with a 104-runloss to England at The Oval on May 30.

South Africa’s earlier defeat to England exposed itsreliance on a few batsmen, especially Quinton de Kock, who made 68, and captainFaf du Plessis. The Proteas appear to be counting on their knowledge of playingat the venue in the tournament opener, even though they were outplayed byEngland. The team needs an improved batting effort after the bowlers did wellto contain the hosts to 311.

But the Bangladeshis have form on their side after beatingthe West Indies three times in the last month to win the tri-nations title inIreland.

The Bangladesh squad has come to the World Cup with the statedintention of reaching the semifinals for the second consecutive time.

South Africa also holds no fear for them, after winningtheir home series four years ago, and their match at the 2007 World Cup. Thoseare Bangladesh’s only three wins against South Africa in 20 ODIs.

Lineups:

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan,Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, MohammadSaifuddin, Mehedi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mustafizur Rahman

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Faf duPlessis (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, JP Duminy, AndilePhehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir

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