South Africa, 'the perennial chokers' maintained their consistency to this morbid tagline, as underdogs Bangladesh vanquished them by 21 runs at The Oval.
From the very beginning, the Proteas looked jaded, listless & without any intent. Having won the toss, Faf du Plessis surprisingly asked Bangladesh to bat first on a flat surface, relying on his much vaunted pace attack, only to be slapped back by the Bangla openers who put on an enterprising 60 runs, as Soumya Sarkar thumped the short ball all around for a little cameo of 42 runs in just 30 deliveries. This set up the tone for veterans Shakib & Mushfiqur, & they plundered the floundering SA attack for 142 runs, both getting delightful half centuries under their belt. SA bowlers leaked boundaries at will, as the run rate remained consistently over 6 till about 35 overs. After a brief period of quiet cricket, Mahmudullah along with Mosaddek lashed out again, as SA bowling leaked, giving away 54 runs in the final four overs, & Bangladesh raced to their highest ever World Cup total of 330 runs. It was also going to be the highest ever run chase in a World Cup, if the South African were to dare a win. A bad day in bowling apart, the South Africans were butter fingers in their fielding too, with saggy shoulders & poor anticipations - it was hard to believe, that this team had produced the likes of Jhonty Rhodes, de Villiers & others in the yesteryears.
Listless & unimaginative as they were in their bowling & fielding, the Proteas looked completely out of woods in their run chase. de Kock & Markram looked out of sorts as openers, allowing pressure to build up eventually, as runs dried up. Although every batsmen, barring Phehlukwayo got into double figures, with capt du Plessis getting a fighting 62, none really threatened the Bangla attack, as the asking run rate kept creeping up, & in the final outcome, it was a superb victory for Bangladesh by 21 runs.
Some noteworthy achievements for Bangladesh today were - 1) Shakib Al Hasan, becoming the fastest cricketer to reach 5000 runs & 250 wickets in ODI (in just 199 matches), ahead of the likes of Kallis, Afridi, Jayasuriya etc; 2) posting 330 for 6, their highest total on WC history, 3) Shakib & Mushfiqur added 142 runs, their highest runs in any wicket at WC.
South Africa, now have a mountain to climb, with their next match against title contender, India.
The bowling, considered to be one of the best on paper, has looked jaded & ragged - without plan or purpose. The fielding has looked listless & the batting without assurance. They have a lot of injury hassles, with important players nursing niggles - what is the support staff doing ??
The squad has many match winners as individuals, but they have been unable to string up a credible team performance. They will have to conjure up a smart plan & drive a belief within their abilities, & that too quickly, or else, the WC aspirations will fade away, before they even blink - pushing them further down on the dreaded tagline - "the perennial chokers".
From the very beginning, the Proteas looked jaded, listless & without any intent. Having won the toss, Faf du Plessis surprisingly asked Bangladesh to bat first on a flat surface, relying on his much vaunted pace attack, only to be slapped back by the Bangla openers who put on an enterprising 60 runs, as Soumya Sarkar thumped the short ball all around for a little cameo of 42 runs in just 30 deliveries. This set up the tone for veterans Shakib & Mushfiqur, & they plundered the floundering SA attack for 142 runs, both getting delightful half centuries under their belt. SA bowlers leaked boundaries at will, as the run rate remained consistently over 6 till about 35 overs. After a brief period of quiet cricket, Mahmudullah along with Mosaddek lashed out again, as SA bowling leaked, giving away 54 runs in the final four overs, & Bangladesh raced to their highest ever World Cup total of 330 runs. It was also going to be the highest ever run chase in a World Cup, if the South African were to dare a win. A bad day in bowling apart, the South Africans were butter fingers in their fielding too, with saggy shoulders & poor anticipations - it was hard to believe, that this team had produced the likes of Jhonty Rhodes, de Villiers & others in the yesteryears.
Listless & unimaginative as they were in their bowling & fielding, the Proteas looked completely out of woods in their run chase. de Kock & Markram looked out of sorts as openers, allowing pressure to build up eventually, as runs dried up. Although every batsmen, barring Phehlukwayo got into double figures, with capt du Plessis getting a fighting 62, none really threatened the Bangla attack, as the asking run rate kept creeping up, & in the final outcome, it was a superb victory for Bangladesh by 21 runs.
Some noteworthy achievements for Bangladesh today were - 1) Shakib Al Hasan, becoming the fastest cricketer to reach 5000 runs & 250 wickets in ODI (in just 199 matches), ahead of the likes of Kallis, Afridi, Jayasuriya etc; 2) posting 330 for 6, their highest total on WC history, 3) Shakib & Mushfiqur added 142 runs, their highest runs in any wicket at WC.
South Africa, now have a mountain to climb, with their next match against title contender, India.
The bowling, considered to be one of the best on paper, has looked jaded & ragged - without plan or purpose. The fielding has looked listless & the batting without assurance. They have a lot of injury hassles, with important players nursing niggles - what is the support staff doing ??
The squad has many match winners as individuals, but they have been unable to string up a credible team performance. They will have to conjure up a smart plan & drive a belief within their abilities, & that too quickly, or else, the WC aspirations will fade away, before they even blink - pushing them further down on the dreaded tagline - "the perennial chokers".
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