Proteas are hungry to put in ‘massive performances’
THERE were rich pickings for South Africa’s opening batsmen in the “City of Diamonds” as the Proteas followed up their Test series hammering of Bangladesh with another pounding in the first one-day international in Kimberley yesterday.
A new national ODI record partnership for any wicket, saw the home team race to victory with 43 balls to spare as Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla continued the Proteas’ dominating start to the home summer. Bangladesh may have felt reasonably confident after posting 278, thanks to Mushfiqur Rahim’s fifth ODI century, but it was a target that proved hopelessly inadequate especially as their bowlers – who were poor in the Tests as well – were unable to create any form of pressure against the SA openers.
Amla, who has scored a century in three of the four innings he has played against the Bangladeshis on their tour, registered a 26th ODI century yesterday, moving him two clear of AB de Villiers as the leading centurion for SA in ODIs.
Amla barely moved out of second gear, hitting just eight boundaries, with the main feature of his innings being his ability to nudge the ball into gaps and take singles of which there were 65 in his innings.
The fireworks came from De Kock, who mixed some elegantly timed drives with some funky sweeps and flicks as he notched up a 13th ODI century, eventually finishing the match not out on 168 hitting 21 fours and two sixes.
The pair broke the previous national record for any wicket in ODIs for SA, 256, shared for the fifth wicket by David Miller and JP Duminy against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup. The previous highest first-wicket partnership for SA was 247 between Amla and Rilee Rossouw against the West Indies at the Wanderers in 2015.
SA captain Faf du Plessis praised the greed of his two openers. “We were saying that we felt a bit sorry for the Bangladeshi team, because it’s been hard toil for their bowlers. But as a team we want to be ruthless and today was a very good example of that,” said Du Plessis. “When you are bossing the game, it’s easy to throw away your wicket when it’s 150 without loss, but the guys are hungry and determined to put in massive performances.”
Bangladesh created little with the ball, in fact the first opportunity came their way when fast bowler Taskin Ahmed dropped Amla off his own bowling in the 38th over, with Amla on 95. There was another opportunity in the 43rd over when De Kock, on 159, was dropped on the long-on boundary by Nasir Hossain.
Earlier Mushfiqur seemed to revel in the absence of the responsibilities of the captaincy as he scored an unbeaten 110 to anchor the tourists’ innings, after ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza chose to bowl upon winning the toss.
The trouble for the Bangladeshis was the lack of any decent support for Mushfiqur, with Shakib Al Hasan, back in the side after resting during the Test series, scoring 29 – in the process going past 5000 runs – and Mahmudullah a run-a-ball 26. They shared partnerships of 59 and 69 with Mushfiqur respectively, but it was insufficient.
Kagiso Rabada with 4/43 was the best of the SA bowlers, with Imran Tahir (1/45) and Dwaine Pretorius (2/48) providing good support. It was a forgettable debut for Dane Paterson with the Cape Cobras bowler struggling with his line and length and conceding 69 runs in nine overs.