Quinton de Kock (right) scored his 13th ODI hundred, while Hashim Amla made his 26th ODI century
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
South Africa openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla scored an unbeaten 168 and 110 not out respectively to power their side to a record-breaking 10-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first ODI in Kimberley.
With the Proteas chasing their target of 279 runs, it marked the biggest successful chase in ODI cricket without losing a wicket. Their previous record for a 10-wicket win was when England chased down 255 against Sri Lanka in 2016.
While South Africa celebrated their victory in style, Bangladesh were once again feeling the sting of another loss as prior to the ODI series, they lost the Test series 2-0.
Electing to bat first, Bangladesh got off to a solid start before opener Liton Das was caught by captain Faf du Plessis at second slip off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada for 21.
Liton’s opening partner, Imrul Kayes, made 31 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Dwaine Pretorious.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan stabilised the innings with a 59-run partnership before Shakib was caught by Amla at slip off the bowling of Imran Tahir for 29.
Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah kept the runs flowing with a 69-run stand, during which Mushfiqur brought up his fifty, before Mahmudullah, who made 26, became Pretorius’ second victim.
Even though Bangladesh continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, Mushfiqur continued to take the attack to South Africa and ended up making an unbeaten 110, which came off 116 balls and included 11 boundaries and two sixes.
Mushfiqur Rahim’s fifth ODI century went in vain
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Thanks to Mushfiqur, Bangladesh finished on 278/7 off their 50 overs.
Rabada was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Pretorius snapped up two and Tahir chipped in with one.
Chasing 279 to win, De Kock and Amla single-handedly got the job done for South Africa as they amassed an unbeaten 282-run partnership.
De Kock and Amla both scored their hundreds en route to putting together the third-highest opening partnership in ODI history.
With Bangladesh unable to find an answer on how to break the stand, the Proteas ended up cruising to victory with 43 balls to spare.
De Kock finished on 168 off 145 balls, which included 21 boundaries and two sixes, while Amla remained undefeated on 110 off 112 deliveries, which included eight boundaries.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza was disappointed to have lost after Mushfiqur’s valiant effort, and said: “I think Mushy batted very well, and it was a good effort from the batters. The wicket was good, but we should have tried to bowl more defensively. We always knew it was a good wicket, we knew we had to take wickets, but we couldn’t get an early breakthrough.
“One-day cricket, if you stop runs from both ends, we can put pressure and wickets will come, but we couldn’t do that. All credit to Hashim and Quinton. We thought one of our seniors has to bat up the order with Tamim out. Mushy batted really well. We have to keep fighting. It happens in cricket, it happens in all games. I think Tamim should be fit for the next game.”
Du Plessis was pleased to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “We’re playing really well. Another dominating performance – that’s what we asked for and they delivered today. We’re feeling a little sorry for the Bangladesh bowlers, they’ve had a hard tour, but that’s what being ruthless is about. I thought the pitch was a little slow in the first innings, maybe the heavy roller made it better to bat on in the second innings.
“It was mostly to do with the wind today – you try and eliminate one side of the field [bowling slower bouncers]. I went to the coach and said, let’s do something out of the box, send Andile in at 3, give him a chance to learn to finish the game. [Amla and QdK] were brilliant – they were greedy, and that’s what you need to be.”
De Kock was named Man of the Match, and said: “I was quite excited to get back out there. They didn’t need me in the Test matches – I was just happy to get back to doing some batting. I think it did differ [between innings]. When we bowled it was quite slow. As the sun started beating, it got a bit flatter, started skidding on a little more.
“I’m just happy to contribute to the team. Excited to just get out there and bat, let alone score runs or anything else. I think I’m a calming influence on him [when asked if Amla is a calming influence]. It’s always good to bat with him, it’s a privilege.”