After Taskin’s fiery bowling, the victory was almost in the hands of Bangladesh. All that was left was formality. The onus is on the batsmen to complete that formality. It was to be seen how easily they carried out their duties.
The bowlers made the match easier as they bowled out South Africa for 154, and the batsmen made it easier. Especially captain Tamim Iqbal. With an unbelievable 127-run partnership with another opener Liton Das, he brought Bangladesh’s victory in his hands.
Even though Liton was out in the end, the Bangladesh captain left the field with Shakib Al Hasan after winning the match by a huge margin of 9 wickets in just 28.3 overs at Centurion’s Super Sports Park. The cricketers of the Bangladesh team made history by winning the first series against a superpower like South Africa.
Bangladesh has never won a match in any format on South African soil before, not just a match win, but a series win is an incredible thing. Winning this series will be marked as a great milestone in the development of cricket in Bangladesh.
Easy target of 155 runs to win. The two openers did not make it difficult for him to cross this target. Instead, Tamim Iqbal made Bangladesh’s victory easier with his devastating batting. He continued to play shorts one after the other, making Liton the spectator at the other end. For that reason, he sent a bowler like Kagiso Rabada off the boundary four times in the 10th over.
The fans of Bangladesh thought that the victory was going to come in the space of 10 wickets. But after making a pair of 127 runs, Temba Bavuma, who was standing on the cover in the 5th ball of the 21st over, handed over the catch. The bowler was Keshav Maharaj. Liton was out for 48 runs. He played 56 balls.
Shakib Al Hasan came on the field to give a finishing touch for the victory after Liton was out. Tamim-Sakib finished the rest of the work together and only 5 overs. Bangladesh reached the target in 26.3 overs. He still had 141 balls (23.5 overs) left.
Tamim Iqbal remained unbeaten on 7 runs. He made an innings of 72 balls with the help of 14 boundaries. This is Tamim’s 52nd half century in his ODI career. Shakib Al Hasan was unbeaten on 18 off 20 balls. Her three children, mother and mother-in-law fell ill in the hospital. Still, Shakib decided to stay in South Africa to win the series for the country. In the end he succeeded in his goal, Bangladesh was able to make history.
At the beginning of today’s match, the body language of the Bangladeshi players was telling that something good was going to happen. The manner in which Shariful fired the ball in the first over after South Africa won the toss and elected to bat was unbelievable. Opener Janeman Malan was defeated by his second ball.
He applied for out. Shariful asked Tamim to take the review with great confidence as the umpire did not give out. The captain took the review. Didn’t get out though. But Shariful’s confidence seemed to spread throughout the team.
In the end, Bangladesh bowled out South Africa for just 154 runs because of that confidence. Taskin took 5 wickets.
When the Proteas batsmen were batting, it seemed that this wicket of Centurion was the paradise of the bowlers. But when the two openers of Bangladesh came down to bat, it seems that it is the paradise of batsmen.
Easy target of 155 runs to win. Opener Liton Das could have been in danger from the start. In the very first over, Liton caught Kagiso Rabadar on the third slip. But there Protea fielder Keshav Maharaj could not palpate the ball. Lytton survives, survives the dream of making history of Bangladesh.
Then Tamim Iqbal could also be in danger. Lungi Engidi could not play a ball properly. The ball hits the bat and pitches the ball very close to the stumps. It’s like a bullet in the ear. Tamim survived the danger. Bangladesh also survives.
After getting rid of these two dangers in the first 5 overs after batting, it can be said that Bangladesh has got off to a good start. 19 runs came in the first 5 overs holding the wickets of two openers.
Earlier, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, South Africa were bowled out for 154 in just 36 overs by Taskin Ahmed. They made a good start. 45 runs were crossed in 6 overs. The Proteas lost the first wicket in 7.5 overs off Mehdi Hasan Miraj. Quinton de Kock was out for 12 runs.
Janeman Malan scored the highest 39 runs. Besides, Keshav Maharaj scored 28 and Dwayne Pretorius scored 20 runs. David Miller scored 18 runs. None of the other batsmen could touch the double digits.
Taskin Ahmed took 5 wickets for 35 runs in 9 overs. This is the second time Taskin has met Pfeiffer in ODIs. Shakib Al Hasan took 2 wickets. Shariful and Mehedi Hasan Miraj took 1 wicket each. Keshav Maharaj, who scored 28 runs, was run out.
