SOUTH AFRICA HAVE NOW LOST their second game in a row in the ICC World Cup 2019, as Bangladesh registered a superb win over the Proteas on Sunday.
Days after their opening day loss to hosts England, South Africa suffered yet another setback, mostly due to their bowlers failing to contain Bangladesh. The south-Asian side batted first to notch up an impressive 330/6 in 50 overs, with Mushfiqur Rahim (78 off 80), Shakib Al Hasan (75 off 84) and stormy outings from Mahmadullah (46* off 33) as well as Soumya Sarkar (42 off 30) helping the scoreboard jog along. Other than Andy Phehlukwayo (10-1-52-2) and Imran Tahir (10-0-57-2) all Protea bowlers were hit for more than 6 per over by the Bengal Tigers.
In reply, South Africa started well, but only got up to 309/8 in the end, losing the match by 21 runs. Among the Bangladeshi bowlers, Mustafizur Rahman (10-0-67-3) and Mohammad Saifuddin (8-0-57-2) picked up the most wickets but spells from Mehidy Hassan (10-0-44-1) and Shakib Al Hassan (10-0-50-1) did most of the containment that made sure the Proteas fell well short of the target.
Now with 2 losses in a row, South Africa have dropped to 7th place in the points table, while Bangladesh have climbed to 5th with 2 points in the bag, a good place to begin the campaign with.
Watch the highlights of this high scoring exciting match right here courtesy the International Cricket Council.