Kagiso Rabada has certainly made up for his wicket-less outing against Sri Lanka. The South African speedster rocked the Bangladesh top-order in Abu Dhabi to bundle them out for a meagre 84 on Tuesday, making the run-chase equivalent to a cakewalk for his side's batting force. It seemed like a bruised and battered Bangladesh side lacked intent against South Africa as the rainbow nation made it three in three to put itself in a formidable position to make it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021.
The Bangladesh camp crumbled to Rabada's three-wicket haul before Temba Bavuma got South Africa past the finish line with a 28-ball 31. The Proteas camp did stutter at the start, losing three wickets in the first six overs, before their skipper sailed them to a comprehensive six-wicket victory.
Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed did use the seamer-friendly conditions to remove Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram. But it was one-way traffic towards the end, with Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen (22 from 27 deliveries) adding the finishing touches.
South Africa's victory also meant that neither Bangladesh or Sri Lanka can now qualify for the semi-finals. With this win, South Africa have got their Net Run Rate (NRR) to +0.742 ahead of their clash against table-toppers England on Saturday (November 6).
Bangladesh's powerplay woes
Bangladesh are yet to hit a six in the powerplay and their mediocre starts during the T20 World Cup were manifested today. The South Africans completely dominated the power play overs, conceding only two boundaries in 28 runs. Three wickets and less that 30 runs in the first six overs put Bangladesh under pressure right away, having already lost all three games of the showpiece.
Had it not been for Mahedi Hasan's 27-run cameo, Bangladesh would not have even crossed 80-run mark. Hasan's vital cameo ended in the penultimate over by Anrich Nortje, who trapped the right-handed batter and crushed the Tigers' last hope of getting past the 100-run total. Bangladesh batting unit looked out of sorts and the Proteas bowlers made merry.
Rabada's exemplary show
Kagiso Rabada's (3/20) first spell in which he scalped three batters, including two in two balls, was instrumental in Bangladesh's batting collapse. Rabada ended his brief wicket drought as well. He first removed Mohammad Naim (9 off 11 deliveries) and then trapped Soumya Sarkar for a duck, triggering Bangladesh's free-fall. Rabada was breathing fire in Abu Dhabi and his third prey was
Mushfiqur Rahim in the sixth over, leaving the opposition tottering at 24/3 at the stroke of powerplay. The disciplined bowling effort was then operated by Nortje, who plucked Mahmudullah's wicket with a fiery bouncer. The Bangladesh skipper could not handle the bounce and edged the delivery straight to Aiden Markram in the point region.
Dwaine Pretorius joined the party when he castled Afif Hossain (0) to leave Bangladesh tottering at 34 for five. From there the slide just continued for Bangladesh. Liton Das scored a level-headed before Tabraiz Shamsi came into the picture and trapped him with a leg-break.
The 31-year-old Shamsi, who had produced a game-changing three-fer against Sri Lanka, took two to further slump the Bangladesh innings. To compliment Rabada's Nortje (3/8) also got rid of three batters while Shamsi Tabraiz (2/21) dismissed two.
