Mahmadullah scored a century but his effort came in a losing cause as South Africa hammered Bangladesh by 149 runs to pick up their fourth win in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The Proteas batted first and scored a 300-plus total yet again, giving Bangladesh a massive total of 383 to chase.
Riding on a 174-run knock from Quinton de Kock, and a 90-run knock from Heinrich Klaasen, while stand-in skipper Aiden Markram hit 60 runs. David Miller smashed an unbeaten 34-run knock as the Proteas reached 382/5. Hasan Mahmud picked up two wickets, while Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, Shoriful Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked up a wicket each at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Bangladesh came out to chase the mountain total but found themselves reduced to 81/6 after 22 overs.
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The top order failed to leave an impact before Mahmadullah came up with some resistance and dog-fight to notch a gritty century. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and his hundred failed to impact the result of the game as South Africa took another big step towards the semifinals.
Having piled up the third-highest total of 382/5 in this World Cup the first two also belonging to the rampant Proteas South Africa ran through a largely disappointing Bangladesh batting effort, dismissing their opponents for 233 in 46.4 overs.
Mahmudullah Riyad struck a valiant 111 off as many balls his fourth ton in 225 ODIs and first in six years but the other Bangladesh batters cut a sorry figure on a pitch that remained conducive for batting.
It was Bangladesh’s fourth consecutive loss in the World Cup while South Africa now have four wins from five games.
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The defeat was also Bangladesh’s third heaviest in terms of runs in World Cup history.
Bangladesh were cautious to begin with but twin strikes from Marco Jansen (2/39) in the seventh over to get Tanzid Hasan (12) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (0) caught behind, and in the next, Lizaad Williams (2/56) dismissing Shakib Al Hasan (1), broke their back.
Litton Das (12) was pinned leg-before by Kagiso Rabada (2/) while the dependable Mushfiqur Rahim (8) was taken out by Gerald Coetzee (3/62).
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (11), sent in at No 7 in the ever-changing Bangladesh batting line-up, was removed by Keshav Maharaj (1/32).
There was no coming back from the hole Bangladesh had fallen into but Mahmudullah’s ton did help them reduce the defeat margin to a great extent.
Mahmudullah added 41 runs for the seventh wicket with Nasum Ahmed (19), 37 runs for the eighth wicket with Hasan Mahmud (15) and 68 runs for the ninth wicket with Mustafzur Rahman (11) to keep South Africa out on the park for as long as he could.
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More importantly, Mahmudulla’s effort also averted the heaviest loss in World Cup history which was at the horizon at one stage when Bangladesh were reduced to 81 for six chasing 383.
Earlier, de Kock’s magnificent 174 and a brutal 49-ball 90 from Heinrich Klaasen underlined South Africa’s batting prowess as they ended with a mammoth total.
De Kock pumped 15 fours and seven sixes to not only record his third century in five innings, but his 140-ball knock which witnessed a fantastic late acceleration, also had the opener record the ninth highest individual score in the tournament’s history.
With agency inputs
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