After registering their first-ever win on South African soil in the first ODI, Bangladesh thumped South Africa in the third and series-decider ODI by nine wickets to seal their maiden series win against the Proteas in their backyard. Taskin Ahmed was the hero for Bangladesh, who picked up his second five-wicket haul. Let’s look at some of the key moments from the game.
Two-paced pitch
The pitch at Centurion wasn’t a typical South African deck, with the ball not coming onto the bat with a truer bounce. Scoring through the line and on the up was a difficult option and several South African batters fell prey to not timing their shots and were also guilty of throwing their hands at balls away from their body. Tamim Iqbal realized this quite soon and utilized his resources effectively, evening introducing spin in the fifth over by bringing in Mehidy Hasan Miraz. It was a track where the batters never settled in but with artificial lights taking over in the evening, it got better for batting. That helped Bangladesh breeze past the modest target.
Sensational Taskin
Taskin Ahmed was Bangladesh’s standout bowler in their win in the first ODI. After having an off day in the second game, Ahmed came back roaring in the series decider. His 5/35 were his second-best figures in ODIs.
The key to Ahmed’s success in the final ODI was his length and clever use of pace. With the pitch being on a slower side, Ahmed used his cutters nicely but also banged the ball short on numerous occasions. Ahmed barely pitched it full and mostly kept the ball short, using more cross-seam balls. The slower surface made it difficult for batters to gauge the exact pace of the pitch, often getting sucked into playing shots early.
Captain Tamim takes the team home
A target of 155 runs was never going to be enough for South Africa to defend. However, their plans of making a match of it were promptly smashed away by the Bangladeshi openers. The bowlers were put off their plans by Tamim, and he was superbly supported by Liton Das. The openers put up a 127-run partnership.
The key to Das’ game was his timing of the ball with soft hands, not going hard at it. On a slowish pitch, going hard at the balls could bring the batters’ downfall, but Iqbal and Das relied on timing rather than muscling the ball, something the South African batters were guilty of doing.
It was complete domination from the tourists, and a series win against a full-strength South African side in their home could turn out to be a watershed moment in their cricketing history.