Rabada, De Kock star in South Africa’s series-levelling 7-wicket win over Bangladesh

Johannesburg, March 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) Riding on Kagiso Rabada's sensational bowling spell (5/39) and Quinton de Kock's attacking fifty (62 off 41), South Africa thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets in the second ODI to level the three-match series 1-1 at the Wanderers Stadium, here on Sunday.

The win helped South Africa jump a spot in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League table where they now occupy the ninth spot with 49 points. Bangladesh still remain on top with 110 points.

Chasing a target of 195 to win, Quinton de Kock looked in a hurry to finish the game. After a quiet first three overs, he smashed two fours and a six off Taskin Ahmed to get the ball rolling. The introduction of spin didn't slow him down as he raced off to his 28th ODI fifty off just 26 in the 8th over to kill the game off in the Powerplay.

Mehidy Hasan finally gave some respite to Bangladesh after he broke the opening stand in the 13th over by getting rid of Janneman Malan (26). De Kock followed his fellow opener back to the pavilion a few overs later, courtesy of a brilliant boundary catch by Afif Hossain.

With South Africa still 101 runs away from a win, Bangladesh smelled blood but Temba Bavuma (37) and Kyle Verreynne batted smartly to ensure more wickets didn't fall. Both the batters took a liking to the pace of Taskin Ahmed, smashing him for two sixes and two fours in consecutive overs.

Afif Hossain's brilliant day in the field continued as he scalped Bavuma but it was all too late in the end. Verreynne (58 not out) brought up his fourth ODI fifty and along with Rassie van der Dussen (8 not out), took the Proteas to a win with seven wickets and 76 balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, Kagiso Rabada ran through the Bangladesh batting order, getting wickets upfront and in the death to complete his second ODI five-for.

After winning and choosing to bowl first, Bangladesh found themselves in a lot of trouble early on. In hot and sunny conditions in Johannesburg, South African pacers showed some fire of their own in the early exchange.Both Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada extracted some extra bounce off the surface to trouble the batters. In consecutive overs, they got the prized scalps of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan respectively.

Rabada used the short ball effectively in his extended opening spell of seven overs and reaped rewards with the wickets of Liton Das and Yasir Shah. Parnell, playing just his second ODI since 2017, struck in his second over to trap Mushfiqur Rahim leg before wicket, leaving Bangladesh reeling at 34/5, an ICC report said.

Staring down the barrel at this point, Bangladesh needed somebody to stand up and Afif Hossain answered the call. He smashed Rabada for two boundaries in the same over to make his intentions clear. At the other end, he had the experienced Mahmud Ullah, who was happy to play second fiddle initially before teeing off himself.

Both batters looked set and even brought up their 50-run stand before Mahmud Ullah fell for the leg-slip trap set by Tabraiz Shamsi. Hossain got a reprieve in the very next over as Keshav Maharaj dropped a return catch and he made full use of the lifeline, bringing up his second half-century in ODIs.

At the other end, Mehidy Hasan Miraz was striking the ball well and together, they stitched an 86-run stand for the seventh wicket. Rabada, bowling his last overs, snared both the batters to complete his five-for. Bangladesh finished the innings at a respectable 194/9.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 194/9 in 50 overs (Afif Hossain 72; Kagiso Rabada 5-39) lost to South Africa 195/3 in 37.2 overs (Quinton de Kock 61, Kyle Verreynne 58 not out) by seven wickets.

Source: IANS