South Africa crush Bangladesh after De Kock masterclass

South Africa crushed Bangladesh by 149 runs in a World Cup match played at the Wankhede Stadium, on Tuesday after another masterclass century from Quinton de Kock.

De Kock slammed his third century of the 2023 ODI World Cup as South Africa piled on another mammoth score racing to an imposing 382-5. De Kock ended with the second highest World Cup score by a South African batter while Heinrich Klaasen was at his brutal best as well to give the Proteas a whopping finish to the innings. A mind boggling 217 runs came off the last 20 overs of which 144 came in the last 60 deliveries.

With the ball doing a bit more under lights, Bangladesh soon found themselves under the pump at 31-3 in the eighth over. By the 22nd over, the match was virtually over with Bangladesh on their knees at 81-6. Bangladesh did have something to cheer about towards the end as Mahmudullah played beautifully to smash a run-a-ball 111 (11 fours, 4 sixes) while the tail wagged in support. Still, they fell short by 149 runs.

Opting to bat, South Africa had a tentative start with the early loss of Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen in the first PowerPlay. However, de Kock and skipper Aiden Markram assessed the situation quite well and went about their job in steady fashion putting together a partnership worth 131.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan eventually broke the stand when Markram mistimed a loft down long-off’s throat to be dismissed for 60 off 69 balls (7 fours). But by then, the platform had been laid for the likes of Klaasen. Fresh from his unreal assault against England a few days ago, Klaasen smashed his way to 90 off 49 balls (2 fours, 8 sixes) in the process helping De Kock to his third century of the tournament (174 off 140 balls, 15 fours, 7 sixes). By the time de Kock fell after adding 142 with Klaasen, the stage had been set for David Miller to put the final touches to the innings. He duly did that with a rollicking 14-ball 34.

Scores: South Africa 382-5 (50) (Quinton de Kock 174, Aiden Markram 60, Heinrich Klaasen 90, D Miller 34*, Hasan Mahmud 2/67)

Bangladesh 233 (46.4) (Litton Das 22, Mahmudullah 111, Marco Jansen 2/39, Lizaad Williams 2/56, Gerald Coetzee 3/62, Kagiso Rabada 2/42)