South African batsman Rilee Rossouw, who helped his team near the 150-run mark in the first Twenty20 international against Bangladesh yesterday, informed that they were confident of defending the total although many thought it was a below-par score at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
The visiting skipper Faf du Plessis scored an unbeaten 79 to anchor the Proteas’ inning on a day when the top-order failed, but it was Rossouw’s quick-fire 21-ball 31 at No 6, featuring two fours and as many sixes, that helped South Africa post the challenging 148 for four on a sluggish pitch.
However, with the pitch holding up and providing vicious turn on the cloudy afternoon, the visitors had no trouble claiming a 52-run win and taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
“Obviously we looked at the statistics and 150 looked to be a very good score on this ground. So we thought we had a very good chance of winning the match. Especially when the ball started turning in the second inning, it did favour us. We bowled really well and stuck to our guns,” Rossouw told the media in the post-match press conference.
“He (Faf) played an immaculate inning, he played really well. Especially when we lost two early wickets, he was still there and played his natural game. We wanted a guy to be there till the end of the inning and target only from the 17th over,” he said.
Rossouw said they need to maintain the momentum because “it’s never going to be easy playing Bangladesh in Bangladesh. They know the conditions better, there is no easy game for us and we have got to do the business.”