ICC Men's T20 WC 2021 - Super 12 - Rabada, Nortje decimate B'desh with 3-fers; SA stay number 2

Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje picked up three wickets each, South Africa stay at number 2.

South Africa 86 for 4 (Bavuma 31*, Taskin Ahmed 18/2) beat Bangladesh 84 all-out (Mahedi Hasan 27, Nortje 8/3, Rabada 20/3) by six wickets

Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje picked up three wickets each (©GettyImages)

South Africa were at odds with Bangladesh in the 30th match of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 tournament on Tuesday at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

South Africa had defeated Sri Lanka in their previous group match due to their collective bowling performance, whereas Bangladesh lost their last game in a nail-biting finish against West Indies as their batters failed to reach a modest target of 143 runs.

Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to field.

Bangladesh batting line-up rattled by Rabada, Nortje who take economical three-fers

Liton Das and Mohammad Naim opened for Bangladesh and cautiously collected 17 runs in the first three overs. Proteas pacer Kagiso Rabada dismissed Naim as Reeza Hendricks grabbed his catch at mid-wicket. This first wicket kicked off the collapse of Bangladesh innings as they lost another wicket on the next ball. Rabada trapped one down batter Soumya Sarkar plumb in front of stumps for a duck off the first delivery he faced.

Bangladesh batting mainstay Mushfiqur Rahim and skipper Mahmudullah also went to the dugout on single-digit scores. Rabada picked up Rahim whereas Nortje sent back Mahmudullah to the pavilion.

As wickets continued to falter every over, Bangladesh were reduced to 45/6 as opener Liton Das, who was holding one end till then, got out leg before wicket by leggie Tabraiz Shamsi on 24. As there were no prominent batters left to rescue Bangladesh from this miserable scenario, seamer Nortje bagged two back-to-back wickets in the penultimate over to finish Bangladesh innings on a dismal total of 84.

Read More: ICC T20 WC 2021 - Super 12 - Miller's last over heroics take SA past the line; beat SL by 4 wickets

South Africa suffered early blows during their chase

In reply, Bangladesh also bowled their quickest pacer Taskin Ahmed to give the test of the same medicine to Proteas batters. Taskin bowled over 140 kph in the first over of the innings and trapped Reeza Hendricks leg before wicket on the last delivery of his over. Second opener Quinton de Kock cracked two fours to off-spinner Mahedi Hasan but got bowled by Hasan in the same over on 16.

Skipper Temba Bavuma helped his team cross the line

Taskin continued to bowl his fearsome spell to send in-form batter Aiden Makram to the dugout for a duck. Markram edged one and got caught by wicketkeeper Mohammad Naim off the bowling of Taskin. Skipper Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen then stitched a partnership of 47 runs. Left-arm off-spinner Nasum Ahmed broke the partnership by taking the wicket of van der Dussen on 22.

However, Proteas were already on the verge of winning. Bavuma and David Miller helped their side reach the target of 85 runs in the 14th over comfortably to defeat Bangladesh by six wickets.

Group 1 Points Table

What Lies Ahead

With this loss against Proteas, Bangladesh have now lost all their four games in the Super 12 round. They have been knocked out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. Although they will play their last game of Super 12 round against Australia at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on upcoming Thursday, it will not have any impact on the semi-final qualification scenario for them.

Winning side Proteas will be at loggerheads with England in their last match of Super 12 round at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on upcoming Saturday.

Read More: ICC T20 WC 2021 - Super 12 - WI steal win from jaws of defeat; Bangladesh eliminated from tourney