Bondhu Adda Gan -BAG

Golden Memory: When Bangladesh beat Proteas

It was the Super Eight stage of the World Cup when the Tigers met the Proteas at the Providence Stadium, Guyana. The group stages had already provided ample excitement. Bangladesh and Ireland had qualified to the second round beating out favorites India and Pakistan. Both South Africa and Bangladesh had qualified as the runners up of their respective groups. [Watch ভিডিও ক্লিপঃ ২০০৭ বিশ্বকাপে দক্ষিন আফ্রিকার বিপক্ষে বিজয়ের মুহূর্ত]

In the Super Eights, South Africa had won their first two matches while Bangladesh had lost their first two games. Therefore, the Proteas (then ranked no.1 in the world) were still expected to win this match easily but the Tigers would prove that their victory against India was no fluke by producing a repeat performance against South Africa.

Winning the toss, Proteas skipper Graeme Smith opted to put the tigers into bat under overcast conditions. Despite a 42 run opening partnership between Javed Omar (17) and Tamim Iqbal(38) , this seemed to have worked in Proteas’ favor as Bangladesh were reduced to 84-4 at 23.4 overs but a 76 run partnership between Aftab Ahmed and Mohammed Ashraful would prove to be the difference. Coming off 88 balls it would stabilize the innings and ensure the Tigers reached a competitive total. Aftab Ahmed was dismissed off 35 from 43 balls when Andre Nel took a catch off Makhaya Ntini’s bowling with the score reading 160-5.

However, Ashraful carried on and scored 87 which was at the time the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi in World Cup before being dismissed by Nel. He hit 12 fours in the innings and it came off 83 balls at a strike rate off 104.81. A quick-fire 25 from 16 by Mashrafe Mortoza would then take Bangladesh to a score of 251 for 8 off their allotted 50 overs.

For South Africa, the pick of the bowlers was Andre Nel who picked up 5 for 45 off his 10 at an economy of 4.5. Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini also got one wicket each and Shaun Pollock bowled economically giving only 25 runs in his 10 overs despite going wicket less.

In South Africa’s chase, the early breakthrough was provided by Syed Rasel, dismissing Graeme Smith with the score at 18. After that, there was a 45 run partnership between Kallis and AB de Villiers. However once that partnership was broken by a catch from Tamim off Rasel’s bowling, The Proteas kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never recovered. A 45 run partnership between Herschelle Gibbs and Pollock later in the innings would not prove to be enough as South Africa were bowled out for 184 and lost the match by 87 runs.

The only notable performance with the bat being Herschelle Gibbs’ 56 off 59, made all the more impressive as he was suffering from a calf strain and was forced to come in at no. 7 rather than his usual position opening the innings, and a 32 off 36 from Kallis.

The pick off the Bangladeshi bowlers was Abdur Razzak who picked up 3 for 25 from 9.4 overs at an economy of 2.58. Syed Rasel and shakib al Hassan also picked up 2 wickets each. Mohammed Rafique picked up one wicket and bowled economically giving only 22 runs in his 10 overs.

Mohammed Ashraul was adjudged Man of the Match for his 87 off 83 balls. This to date remains the Tigers’ only victory over Proteas. Only 4 Bangladeshi players from that match remain in the current squad: Tamim Iqbal, Mashrafee Mortoza, Shakib Al Hassan and Mushfiqur Rahim. For South Africa, their ODI captain AB de Villiers is the only remaining player. The Tigers will look to draw inspiration from his match as they take on the Proteas in a home ODI series starting from July 10.

Click Below to watch Mohammad Ashraful’s 87 off 83 vs South Africa