Staff Reporter.
Bangladesh thrashed the Proteas by nine wickets in Centurion on Wednesday to secure a famous 2-1 ODI series victory.
Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed took 5-35 as South Africa were bowled out for 154, their lowest total against Bangladesh.
Visiting captain Tamim Iqbal then scored 87* off 82 balls to take Bangladesh to victory with 23.3 overs to spare, sharing a century opening partnership with Liton Das (48).
Iqbal was thrilled with the effort of his team.
“I am a very proud man, especially with a Bangladeshi fast bowler getting a five-for, winning the series [for us] and winning the Player of the Series award,” said Iqbal after the match.
“The coaches, even past coaches, have done a tremendous job. This is massive. It is a massive achievement for us seniors. I will rate this series at the top.
“When we are touring, we can win games and series and we take of a lot of pride in ODI cricket. This is one format where we are very comfortable. The missing part was winning overseas, and we somehow did that this series.”
Bangladesh have consolidated their place at the top of the World Cup Super League, while the Proteas were left languishing in ninth place and in danger of missing one of the eight automatic qualifying places for the 2023 tournament.
Bangladesh had lost all 19 matches across all formats against South Africa on their home soil before winning the series opener by 38 runs at the same venue on Friday.
The Proteas won the second match by seven wickets in Johannesburg but Bangladesh dominated Wednesday’s series decider.
South Africa made a fast start, with Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock putting on 46 for the first wicket inside seven overs.
But Taskin bowled superbly after off-spinner Mehidy Hasan made the first breakthrough by dismissing De Kock.
Taskin (26) produced his best performance since taking 5-28 on debut against India in Mirpur in 2014. He bowled at a lively pace in three spells and troubled all the batsmen.
With South Africa defending a low total, Keshav Maharaj dropped Litton Das at backward point off Kagiso Rabada in the first over of the Bangladesh innings before Das had scored.
Das and Tamim took full advantage of the let-off, putting on 127 for the first wicket.
The Proteas now need to take a long hard look in the mirror and try work out where they have gone wrong, after starting the year with an impressive 3-0 ODI series win against India, they have now gone backwards by losing a series to Bangladesh at home for the first time.
With England, India and Australia their next three ODI opponents for Super League points, followed by the Netherlands to finish off, it is going to be an uphill task, acknowledged by coach Mark Boucher.
“The one positive is that if we rock up and stick to our game plans, we arrive there with confidence we can beat anyone in the world. We’ve shown that in the World Cup in T20 cricket and it’s basically the same personnel in our one day team,” explained Boucher.
“So we have a lot of things to talk about and discuss and we will do that, but also understanding that we’ve got the clientele in our change room to beat the best in the world.
“We have beaten them before and we are going to have to beat them again to qualify, so alarm bells are always there and we are putting ourselves under pressure, but we have to come to the party.”