World Cup 2023: Quinton de Kock's 174, Mahmudullah's rearguard ton and other key moments
World Cup 2023: Quinton de Kock's 174, Mahmudullah's rearguard ton and other key moments
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With each passing performance, South Africa are highlighting the fact that their shock upset at the hands of Netherlands in the ongoing ICC World Cup was just that — an upset.
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Three days after handing defending champions England a sound thrashing at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, the Proteas pulled off another dominant victory at the same venue, this time against another struggling side in Bangladesh.
Much like their batting performance against England, the South Africans once again managed to finish within touching distance of the 400-mark despite getting their innings off to a shaky start.
With the ball, South Africa were clinical as usual and virtually killed off the contest before Bangladesh’s chase could even hit the halfway mark in terms of overs, though they were guilty of lifting their foot off the gas pedal later.
Here are five key moments from the South Africa vs Bangladesh match in Mumbai:
Tigers off to a top start
South Africa were in for a troubled start early in their innings when opener Reeza Hendricks, who retained his place with regular skipper Temba Bavuma remaining sidelined due to illness, was cleaned up by a beautiful inswinger from Shoriful Islam. Rassie van der Dussen didn’t last long either, getting trapped leg-before by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
South Africa were reduced to 36/2, and were sensing a collapse like the one against Netherlands at Dharamsala. Bangladesh were firmly on top in the powerplay and their body language was that of a pack of hunters on the prowl.
De Kock leads Proteas fightback
De Kock slowly began rebuilding the innings alongside stand-in skipper Aiden Markram and showed no hurry early in his innings. He kept collecting the odd four or six and maintained strike rate around a run-a-ball on his way to bringing up his third century in five outings, making him the first South African to score three tons in a single World Cup.
The southpaw would shift gears after the innings entered the third and final powerplay; he was batting on 117 off 116 deliveries at the end of the 40th over and would add another 57 off 23 deliveries before getting dismissed by Hasan Mahmud.
Klaasen, Miller provide another high-flying finish
Klaasen had ripped the English attack to shreds at the Wankhede with a 67-ball 109 on Saturday, and would follow it up with an equally destructive 90 off just 49 deliveries. He was closing in on a second consecutive century when a slow bouncer by Mahmud proved to be his undoing.
David Miller, too, contributed to South Africa posting a mammoth 382 runs in the end with a few big hits, smashing an unbeaten 34 off 15 deliveries that contained four sixes.
Bangladesh crumble under pressure
The Proteas once again reduced the match to a no-contest with the ball as the Bangladeshi top-six crumbled like a pack of cards. Openers Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das added 30 before Marco Jansen got the former as well as Najmul Hossain Shanto caught-behind on successive deliveries. Klaasen would collect a third consecutive catch with World Cup debutant Lizaad Williams getting rid of Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan for just 1.
Mushfiqur Rahim then became the first of Gerald Coetzee’s three wickets after guiding a short, wide delivery straight to third man. And by the time Das departed, Bangladesh were 58/5 and staring at the prospect of getting shot out for around 100 and suffering a record defeat.
Mahmudullah’s defiant ton
That Bangladesh eventually crossed 200 through a series of partnerships, and managed to frustrate the mighty South Africans in the second half of their chase was primarily due to Mahmudullah’s defiant run-a-ball 111.
The senior all-rounder had looked impressive with the couple of forties that he had managed in his last two outings, but it was against South Africa on Tuesday that the 37-year-old exhibited his class as well as his never-say-die attitude to bring up his fourth ODI hundred — his third in World Cups.
A sublime third World Cup hundred from Mahmudullah Riyad!????#BCB | #SAvBAN | #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/RDQujwwz1h
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) October 24, 2023
Mahmudullah started off with a boundary off his first delivery and would steadily accumulate runs thereafter; he never really went ballistic the way De Kock and Klaasen did earlier in the day, but did enough to frustrate the Proteas and delay their victory celebrations.
He was dropped on 73 by Williams near mid off, and made the most of the reprieve by becoming the second centurion of the day.
