Afif Hossain hit a brilliant 72 as Bangladesh recovered from a precarious 34-5 to post 194-9 in the second ODI against South Africa at The Wanderers in Johannesburg yesterday.
South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada claimed 5-39 to wreak havoc on Bangladesh innings after they opted to bat first.
Afif was ably supported by Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s 38 and Mahmudullah Riyad 25. He shared two important partnerships with those two batters to edge Bangladesh closer to 200, when it looked Bangladesh could have bowled out below 100.
Rabada’s new ball partner Lungi Ngidi who finished with 1-34 gave the first breakthrough, removing Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal for 1.
Rabada then sliced the Bangladesh top order in an impeccable bowling show. He started with the wicket of Liton Das, who failed to deal with a rising delivery and edged it to wicket-keeper Quinton de Dock for 15.
Shakib Al Hasan, who scripted Bangladesh’s 38-run victory in the first game, hitting a superb 64 ball-77, this time was out for duck as Rabada got him with another sharp delivery.
Yasir Ali, another hero of the first match, also was victimized by Rabada, who undid him with a short delivery for 2.
Wayne Parnell, one of the three changes of South African got into act, dismissing Mushfiqur Rahim for 11 as Bangladesh were reduced to 34-5.
Much to the delight of Bangladesh, Parnell, who looked dangerous, was sidelined with a hamstring injury after bowling 2.5 overs. His absence made South Africa one bowler short in a pitch, helpful for the pacers.
Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad took full advantage of it and shared 61-run for the sixth wicket stand to help Bangladesh bounce back in the game.
Left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who bowled with controlled line, got the reward with the wicket of Mahmudullah but Afif and Miraz then brought back memories of Bangladesh’s recent match against Afghanistan. In that match, Bangladesh was reduced to 45-6 but their heroics helped Bangladesh win the game, overhauling Afghanistan’s 215.
They didn’t quite match with that partnership but shared a 106-run for the seventh wicket, which was Bangladesh’s highest in this wicket against South Africa. More importantly it edged Bangladesh closer to 200, which still looked good on this wicket.
Bangladesh easily could have gone past 200 but Rabada got back to his second spell with a bang again and removed both of the set batter in the space of two balls, completing his second five-for in his ODI career. His first five-wicket haul (6-16) also came against Bangladesh in his debut match in 2015.
Miraz struck two sixes and one four in his 38 off 49. Afif however sent the ball across the ropes nine times for his 107 ball-72.
