- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
BANGLADESH’S poor luck refused to smile in T20 World Cup 2021 as Mahmudullah’s side crashed to their fourth successive loss to bow out of the tournament. The Tigers could manage just only 84 runs in their crucial Group 1 game against South Africa at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and lost the match by six wickets to remain winless in the marquee edition’s finals. Their loss to the Proteas also saw Sri Lanka, who lost to England on Monday (1), crashing out of the run for the semi-finals.
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Temba Bavuma won the toss and asked Bangladesh to bat first and apart from opener Liton Das (24 off 36) and Shamim Hossain (11 off 20) and Mehedi Hasan (27 off 25) down the order, no batsman could reach the two-figure mark. Fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje broke the backbone of Bangladesh batting by picking three wickets for 20 and three for eight, respectively. These are the best bowling figures for both bowlers in the shortest version. Tabraiz Shamsi and Dwayne Pretorius took a wicket each.
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Bangladesh picked some South African wickets to make a last-ditch effort but captain Bavuma (31 not out off 28) ensured that his team did not make a mess of an easy chase. Rassie van der Dussen scored 22 off 27 to add 47 runs for the fourth wicket with Bavuma to take South Africa within a striking distance of win.
Bangladesh spearhead Taskin Ahmed got two wickets while Hasan and Nasum Ahmed claimed a scalp each.
Rabada was picked as the player of the match.
Bangladesh had to play the qualifiers for this World Cup and lost their opening game against Scotland in the qualifying round before beating Oman and Papua New Guinea to make the Super 12s. Their star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
With England having qualified for the semi-finals from the group, the fight is between South Africa (six points from four games), Australia (four points from three games) and the West Indies (two points from three games) to clinch the remaining semi-final berth.
