Heading into the two-Twenty20 international series against Bangladesh, South Africa were the sure favourites. And, the inevitable happened as the Proteas, aided by their determined batsmen and disciplined spinners, claimed the second and final T20I by 31 runs at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday to clinch the series 2-0.
It was expected that the Tigers would come hard in the deciding T20I and make a valiant effort to avoid a series defeat against a formidable South African side. But, the exact opposite happened as it was not only the batsmen who looked out of sorts but the body language of the Bangladesh cricketers also raised eyebrows and left a lot to be desired. Yesterday’s defeat also indicated how far the Tigers are from perfecting their game in the shortest format.
Opting to bat first for the second time in a row, the intention of the visitors to score big was clearly evident right from the start as opener AB de Villiers (40 off 34 balls) hammered Bangladesh spinner Arafat Sunny for two boundaries in the very first over.
The wicket in Mirpur was totally different from the first T20I. It offered spin and bounce but became harder as the match progressed. As a result, the ball was coming nicely on to the bat. The Proteas batsmen duly took advantage, charged the Bangladesh bowlers at will and never allowed them to settle down.
In addition to the travails of the bowlers, sloppy fielding by the Bangladesh fielders hardly helped matters. The frustration was doubled as even the side’s best fielders – Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain – were looking profligate on the field.
De Villiers and his opening partner Quinton de Kock (44 off 31 balls) maintained a healthy run rate, over eight runs per over. Sunny removed De Kock in the 11th over but by then the damage had already been done as the Proteas posted 95 runs on the board.
Nasir then sent back Jean Paul Duminy (six) and De Villiers to the hut in quick succession but the Proteas never took their foot off the pedal and added a further 74 runs from their remaining 57 deliveries.
In pursuit of 170, Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal (13 off 18 balls) and Soumya Sarkar (37 off 21 balls) started their chase briskly.
Soumya slashed one through point for a boundary off the inning’s fourth delivery but as the chase progressed, both the openers were watchful. The pressure of the required run rate, however, saw the Tigers lose their way. Tamim and Soumya did give the Proteas a close run for their money, putting on 46 runs for the opening wicket, but the former’s departure opened the floodgates for the Proteas.
Soon, the Tigers were tottering at 82/6 as they lost four wickets for the addition of only 13 runs.
The way Shakib al Hasan (eight), Mushfiqur Rahim (19 off 16 balls) and Nasir (nought) made their way to the dressing room was deplorable.
The tail-enders, led by skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza, took Bangladesh past the 100-run mark for the first time in the series but it was too little as two fine Kyle Abbott block-hole deliveries brought the curtains down on the T20I series.
