By Razeen Gutta
Rilee Rossouw’s century and sheer brilliance all round with the ball saw South Africa beat Bangladesh by 104 runs in Sydney to register their first win of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup.
Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bat. Bavuma blanked again but Quinton de Kock again started well with 63 runs from 38 balls that included seven fours and three sixes.
Rossouw joined de Kock at the crease at 2/1 and the pair took the game to 170/2 before De Kock’s dismissal.
Rossouw went on to bat into the 19th over before being caught by Shakib Al Hasan off the Litton Das’ bowling. He made 109 off 56 deliveries achieving a strike rate of over 194.
Bangladesh, with a target of 206, struggled right from the start. Ainrich Nortje picked up three wickets in the powerplay, including both openers and star man Shakib leaving the Bangladesh side 47/4 after six overs.
Das top scored with 34 off 31 before Tabraiz Shamsi removed him, with Bavuma giving the spinners a shot to get a hang of the conditions.
The Proteas wrapped things up with over three overs to play as Nortje finished with 4/10 while Shamsi got 3/20. Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada both got one wicket each.
The big win will stand coach Mark Boucher’s side in good stead going into their big clash with India in Perth on Sunday.
Image source: @ProteasMenCSA
