It was another day, another run feast for South Africa!

At the Wankhede Stadium on October 24, it rode on Quinton de Kock’s 174 and a blitzkrieg 90 from Heinrich Klassen to plunder 144 off the last ten overs, and put up a mammoth 382 for five, before handing a 149-run defeat to Bangladesh and bolster its chances of a last-four spot in the World Cup.

Had it not been for Mahmadullah (111, 111b, 11×4, 4×6) waging a lone battle after the Proteas’ pace attack took the fizz out of the chase, Bangladesh wouldn’t have reached 233.

The seasoned batter delayed the inevitable with a few big hits and forged a 68-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Mustafizur Rahman. But for a side that was reeling at 58 for 5 in 15 overs after Marco Jansen jolted its top-order, Mahmadullah’s efforts were not enough to avoid the fourth defeat on the trot.

The day, however, belonged to de Kock.

Featuring in his 150th ODI, he became the sixth batter to score three hundreds in a single edition of the tournament and also overtook Virat Kohli as the highest run-getter (407).

Banking on his experience of playing at the iconic venue during his long stint with Mumbai Indians, de Kock guided his team to becoming the first side to register three 350-plus scores in a single World Cup edition.

A couple of days ago, it hammered 143 runs in its last ten overs against England, and on a rather flat deck, South Africa extended its tally by a run against Bangladesh, despite wobbling at 36 for 2 inside eight overs.

Early on, Bangladesh showed intent as Shoriful Islam made good use of the new ball and castled Reeza Hendricks, while Rassie van der Dussen was trapped leg before by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

However, the joy was short-lived as de Kock rebuilt with stand-in captain Aiden Markram (60, 69b, 7×4) and forged a 131-run partnership for the third wicket. The two got into the groove, played shots at will, adding to Bangladesh’s woes.

By the time, Markram mistimed a Shakib delivery and lofted it down to Litton Das at long-off, the foundation was laid for the middle-order to take things forward. Coming into the game from his assault against England, Klaasen hit Shakib for a six, and there was no looking back for him.

As the surface aided the batters, Klaasen continued his carnage – hitting Hasan Mahmud for a boundary and a six – and shortly after de Kock reached his century, both the batters sent Bangladesh bowlers on a leather hunt.

When a ‘tired’ de Kock finally departed amid standing ovation, South Africa needed to put the final touches to its innings and David Miller lived up to the expectations with a 14-ball-34.

Scoreboard

South Africa Innings: Quinton De Kock c Ahmed b Mahmud 174 Reeza Hendricks b Islam 12 Rassie van der Dussen lbw Miraz 1 Aiden Markram c Das b Shakib 60 Heinrich Klaasen c Mahmudullah b Mahmud 90 David Miller not out 34 Marco Jansen not out 1 Extras (LB-3, W-7) 10

Total (For Five Wickets In 50 overs) 382

Fall of Wickets: 1-33, 2-36, 3-167, 4-309, 5-374.

Bangladesh bowling: Mustafizur Rahman 9-0-76-0, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 9-0-44-1, Shoriful Islam 9-0-76-1, Shakib Al Hasan 9-0-69-1, Hasan Mahmud 6-0-67-2, Nasum Ahmed 5-0-27-0, Mahmudullah 3-0-20-0.

Bangladesh innings: Tanzid Hasan c Klaasen b Jansen 12 Litton Das lbw Rabada 22 Najmul Shanto c Klaasen b Jansen 0 Shakib Al Hasan c Klaasen b Williams 1 Mushfiqur Rahim c sub b Coetzee 8 Mahmudullah c Jansen b Coetzee 111 Mehidy Hasan Miraz c sub b Maharaj 11 Nasum Ahmed c&b Coetzee 19 Hasan Mahmud c Coetzee v Rabada 15 Mustafizur Rahman c Miller b Williams 11 Shoriful Islam (not out) 6 Extras (LB-2, NB-2, W-13) 17

Total (all out in 46.4 overs) 233

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-30, 3-31, 4-42, 5-58, 6-81, 7-122, 8-159, 9-227.

South Africa bowling: Marco Jansen 8-0-39-2, Lizaad Williams 8.4-1-56-2, Gerald Coetzee 10-0-62-3, Kagiso Rabada 10-1-42-2, Keshav Maharaj 10-0-32-1.

South Africa thrashed defending champions England in their previous match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. On October 24, the Proteas will take on Bangladesh at the same venue.
| Photo Credit: Twitter/@ProteasMenCSA

South Africa will look to build on their superlative performance against the defending champions when they take on a struggling Bangladesh in their World Cup match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday (October 24), knowing well that taking the foot off the pedal at this stage could spell trouble.

South Africa were off to a flier when they thrashed Sri Lanka and Australia by 100-plus margins, but a shocking defeat against the Netherlands pegged them back before they demolished England by 229 runs to put their campaign back on track.

Bangladesh might not look too threatening in the World Cup but their record against the Proteas, especially in World Cups, gives them more than a chance in the contest.

Three of South Africa’s six defeats to Bangladesh in ODIs have come in the last four years, including when the Tigers beat them by 21 runs in the 2019 World Cup.

In their four meetings so far in World Cups — 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 — the Proteas have lost to the Asian rivals twice — 2007 and 2019.

The Proteas can ill-afford to take Bangladesh lightly knowing the damage they have inflicted and the fact that the Asian side is packed with all-rounders, namely their skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz among others.

Besides, South African opener Quinton de Kock has had two forgettable outings — the last one at Wankhede where he scored just four against England on Saturday.

Still, the Proteas managed to set a 400-run target for Jos Buttler’s side.

The wicketkeeper-batter, who has played several IPL matches at the Wankhede for Mumbai Indians, would be itching for a big score to regain the touch that saw him score consecutive centuries in the first two matches of the World Cup.

Temba Bavuma missed the game against England due to illness and if he is back in contention, Reeza Hendricks will make way for the skipper in the playing XI.

Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen are a formidable pair in the middle-order and David Miller too would want to get a big score under his belt after a string of ordinary outings.

Centurion against England, Heinrich Klaasen would be hoping for an encore against Bangladesh.

For Bangladesh, captain Shakib remains a concern as he did not not bowl in their practice session here on Sunday.

The all-rounder suffered a quad injury against New Zealand in Chennai on October 13, and has not been in the playing XI ever since with Najmul Hossain Shanto leading the side.

Shanto was confident that Shakib would return to action soon the last time he spoke to the media, and it remains to be seen if the senior-most member in the side is fit enough to take the workload.

Top-order batters Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das have been amongst runs, and scored half-centuries against India in the previous game. But Bangladesh batters have lacked is the gumption to make a big score. The batter-friendly Wankhede pitch will provide them the opportunity.

Shanto and Miraz have their task cut out in the middle-order given the uncertainty over Shakib’s availability. Bangladesh would also be served well if the experienced Mahmudullah Riyad gets promoted in the batting order after his 46 against India.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das (wk), Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto (vc), Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.

Match starts: 2:00 p.m.