Led by a scintillating innings from Rilee Rossouw, South Africa completed a dominating 104-run victory over Bangladesh in their second Super 12 match of the ongoing 2022 T20 World Cup at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney on Thursday, October 27.
Rossouw became the first centurion for South Africa in T20 World Cup history with his belligerent 109 off 56 balls, while Quinton de Kock struck a fifty to power South Africa to an imposing 205/5 against Bangladesh. In response, Bangladesh were bundled out for just 101 runs, with Anrich Nortje bagging four wickets for the Proteas.
Nortje wraps up the Indians
Chasing a 200-plus total, Bangladesh openers initially seemed to be up for the task. Soumya Sarkar (15) and Najmul Hossain (9) scored 26 runs in the first two overs, including 17 off Kagiso Rabada's opening over.
Skipper Temba Bavuma's then replaced Rabada with Nortje and the move paid dividends for the Proteas as the pacer blew apart the Bangladesh top order within the first five overs.
Nortje struck twice in his opening over, sending both openers packing. Soumya was first to go after he was caught behind and Hossain soon followed. He then trapped Shakib Al Hasan's leg before wicket, leaving Bangladesh reeling at 39 for 3.
A bit of pace and extra bounce got the better of Afif Hossain (1), who was next to depart as Rabada joined the party. It could have been two for the pacer if Tristan Stubbs had not dropped Liton Das.
Mehidy Hasan (11) looked to play big but got the toe of the bat as Aiden Markram pouched it without a problem at wide long-on. He was Tabraiz Shamsi's first victim as the spinner grabbed three wickets at the back.
Bangladesh batters struggled to get any partnership going as Nortje went on to wrap up the Bangladeshis for 101 runs after getting the wicket of Taskin Ahmed.
Rossouw's century heroics
Earlier, Rossouw looked in imperious touch, striking the ball at close to 200 throughout his innings with de Kock playing second fiddle with a magnificent 63 off 38 balls. While the rain gods threatened to play spoilsport, Rossouw and de Kock were raining sixes in their 168-run partnership, the highest for South Africa in a T20 World Cup match.
The duo sent the ball to the fence 14 times and 11 times over it. Rossouw and de Kock were at their aggressive best, as the duo plundered 21 runs smashing three fours and a six off Taskin in his next over.
Rossouw then continued the assault, this time fetching 16 runs off Mehidy Hassan (0/32).
Bangladesh got some respite as rain interrupted play for 20 minutes and they were able to dry out the runs for a couple of overs after the resumption but the South Africans soon resumed business as usual scoring boundaries at will.
The 33-year-old Roussouw brought his half-century in 30 balls, and de Kock's fifty came soon after. The wicketkeeper brought the feat in style with a six-over deep mid-wicket fence.
However, de Kock's innings were brought to an end in the 15th over. With new batter Tristan Stubbs departing soon after and Rossouw inching towards his century, the Proteas' innings slowed down a bit.
Once Rossouw's century came he sent the ball for a towering six before Shakib put an end to the scintillating innings. On course for a 220-230 score at one point, South Africa lost momentum in the death overs on a two-paced wicket and just about managed to cross the 200-run mark.
