Tigers maul poor Proteas

Shakib Al-Hasan (above) ensured that there was no shelter for a lacklustre South African bowling attack as his scintillating 77 carried Bangladesh to their highest ever total on South African soil and thereafter their first victory here as they beat the Proteas by 38 runs in the first ODI at Centurion yesterday.

Shakib’s 64-ball innings led Bangladesh to 314/7 after they were sent in to bat, well above average (276) for a day/night game at SuperSport Park and the tourists’ second-highest score against South Africa anywhere, behind their winning 330/6 in the World Cup match at the Oval in 2019.

If the Proteas were to harbour any hopes of making what would have been the second-highest total ever batting second at Centurion, then they needed a similarly solid top-order display.

But instead they slumped to 36/3 as Taskin Ahmed (10-1-363) and left-armer Shoriful Islam (8-0-47-2) bowled with tremendous fire and energy up front.

It was in stark contrast to the Proteas bowlers who only took their first wicket in the 22nd over, and then leaked 91 runs in the last 10 overs. One imagines the wicket-taking skills of wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi may well be employed in the second ODI, while unavoidable questions will continue to be asked about the exclusion of Sisanda Magala.

The determined duo of skipper Temba Bavuma (31) and Rassie van der Dussen attempted to rebuild the innings with their fourth-wicket stand of 85, but Bavuma was bounced out by the fiery Shoriful.

Van der Dussen battled on with characteristic tenacity, adding another 70 with David Miller, but he was caught at deep backward square-leg off Taskin for 86 off 98 balls.

There is no more passionate finisher of innings than Miller, but he was left with way too much to do on his own, his 79 off 57 balls deserving more support from his team-mates.