Before the ODI series between Bangladesh and South Africa began, the talk in the media was more focused on which South African players will be missing the Test series rather than the cricket that is going to be played. It was announced earlier that several of South Africa’s Test stars will be missing the 2-match Test series that will follow the ODI series.
Naturally, fans and pundits alike took sides on the issue of whether international players should be missing matches for their country to play franchise cricket at any online casino like Krikya online casino. So the pressure was well and truly on the Proteas to deliver going into the ODI series.
Not all was well in the Bangladesh squad as well, where their premium all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was in doubt about playing in the series after not travelling with the team to South Africa. The star all-rounder only arrived in South Africa after going unsold in the IPL auction.
But none of this seemed to matter to the Bangladeshi players, who are one of the most emotional bunches in world cricket. The fact that they haven’t won an international game in South Africa in the past 15 years did not matter to them.
They have once again disturbed cricket’s world order with an emphatic 2-1 ODI series win against the might of the Proteas in their own backyard. What makes this victory even more surprising is the fact that this was pretty much the same South African side that hammered India 3-0 earlier in the year. But how have Bangladesh managed to pull off this upset on a turf where they have been winless in the last 29 games across formats?
The first thing that strikes after seeing this Bangladesh line-up is experience. Four Bangladesh players, including Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, have represented their country more than 200 times in the ODI format. The same can’t be said about their South African counterparts, where David Miller is the only player to have played over 100 ODIs.
In the first ODI, a combined effort from all the batters helped Bangladesh score a mammoth 314 after batting first. The experienced duo of Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das put on the highest opening partnership for Bangladesh in South Africa to give the visitors the advantage. Now you can place your bet online in Krikya Bangladesh, we have the ক্রিকেট লাইভ স্কোর for the player to make their bet on our gaming platform.
Captain Tamim was very watchful at the start against a strong South African bowling attack comprising of Rabada, Ngidi and Marco Jansen. This led to Bangladesh scoring just 112 in the first half of the innings. But with their strength in the middle-order, they knew they could always catch up.
They did just that as they piled on 202 runs in the second half of the innings. Normally, Bangladesh wait for the final 10 overs to up their scoring rate but on this occasion, Shakib Al Hasan attacked early to bring Rabada into the attack sooner than South Africa would have liked.
The ploy worked out well as Bangladesh plundered 91 in the last 10 overs, with all their batsmen striking at more than 130 at the death. In the chase, Taskin Ahmed showed the South African bowlers the right lengths to bowl on this surface with a brilliant opening spell to reduce the Proteas to 36/3. Although Van der Dussen and David Miller initiated a brief fightback, chasing 315 was always going to be an uphill task and the Proteas fell short by 38 runs.
In the second ODI though, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for Bangladesh as they were skittled out for just 194. The pitch, which had some uneven bounce combined with Kagiso Rabada’s pace, was too much to handle for Bangladesh as South Africa forced a decider.
The third ODI saw Bangladeshi bowlers exact payback as South Africa were dismissed for a paltry 154. Taskin Ahmed was once again the star for Bangladesh as he picked up his second 5-wicket haul in ODI cricket.
Bangladesh were favorites but still 155 was a tricky target. On the same pitch that Taskin Ahmed took a 5-fer, the South African bowlers struggled with their lines and lengths. Tamim Iqbal was once again instrumental in the chase as he scored a half-century to take Bangladesh home.
South African skipper Temba Bavuma said after the game. “They showed us how to play with the bat, the ball and on the field. We just weren’t good enough.” Head Coach Mark Boucher said that his side “went to sleep” when asked about their batting performance.
Bangladesh became the second Asian side besides India to win an ODI series in South Africa. While Bangladesh were always a force to be reckoned with at home, their overseas performances have left a lot to be desired. But after their recent success against New Zealand in the Test arena coupled with this series win against the Proteas, Bangladesh are starting to prove themselves in away from home as well.
