South Africa secured another convincing victory at Wankhede, with their bowlers capitalizing on the favourable evening conditions that offered extra movement. Marco Jansen’s opening spell was exceptional, causing problems for batsmen with his pace, swing, and bounce. Lizaad Williams, filling in for Ngidi, also found movement. They had Bangladesh at 31/3 within the first 8 overs. Later, Rabada and Coetzee continued taking wickets as usual. Even in the 15th over, the ball continued to trouble the batsmen, as seen in Rabada’s delivery that trapped Litton Das LBW. By then, the outcome of the match was all but decided.
Towards the end, there was a silver lining for Bangladesh as Mahmudullah played a brilliant innings, scoring a century, and the lower order offered some resistance. However, they still fell short by 149 runs, which reflected the challenge they faced after South Africa’s strong performance with the bat. South Africa scored 143 runs in the last 10 overs against England, and they managed 144 runs in the final 10 overs in this match.
Quinton de Kock was declared player of the match for his outstanding batting.
Earlier, South African skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to bat against Bangladesh in the ongoing World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. South Africa put up an impressive score at the Wankhede. They scored 382 runs, with Quinton de Kock making a superb 174 and Heinrich Klaasen contributing a blazing 90. Aiden Markram also scored a fifty, but his effort seemed less significant given the onslaught that followed his dismissal. Bangladesh was doing reasonably well when Markram was out, having reduced South Africa to 36/2 in just 8 overs.
There was a substantial partnership of 131 runs between de Kock and Markram for the third wicket, but things took a dramatic turn when de Kock and Klaasen teamed up. As soon as they started, chaos ensued, and Bangladesh struggled to contain the onslaught. De Kock and Klaasen were eventually dismissed by Hasan Mahmud, but David Miller continued the assault with a quick cameo towards the end. Despite the challenging conditions, Bangladesh’s fielding was commendable, as they managed to save several runs, preventing South Africa from crossing the 400-run mark.
The pitch, once again, appeared to be favourable for batsmen, although there were instances of the ball moving under the lights in the previous game at the same venue. At the end of the innings David Miller said that it was a really good wicket. It came in with 5 overs, and I had no choice but to go after it.
