South Africa absolutely battered and bamboozled the Bangladesh cricket team by 149 runs in the 23rd match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Wenkhede Stadium, Mumbai, India, on Tuesday.
The Proteas have now recorded four wins in the ongoing mega event and most of their wins were big margins including a massive 229-run win against England.
Chasing the mammoth target of 383 runs, Bangladesh never looked in the game as they lost early wickets and were 31-3 in just 7.1 overs.
Not a single Bangladeshi batter could stand in front of the explosive South African bowling attack of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj and Lizard Williams as all the bowlers took at least a wicket.
Despite losing wickets early on, Mahmudullah showed excellent composure and temperament as the 37-year-old scored his third World Cup hundred, scoring 111 runs off 111 balls with 11 fours and four sixes, but his heroics weren't enough as the target was too big.
Bangladesh were soon all out for 233 runs in 46.4 overs.
Batting first, Quinton de Kock played one of the most destructive knocks ever and scored the highest individual score of this World Cup as he posted 174 off just 140 deliveries with 15 fours and seven sixes.
De Kock, who is set to bring the curtain down on his Test and ODI career after the World Cup, smashed the Bangladeshi bowlers over all parts of the ground and built two long partnerships, first with skipper Aiden Markram, then with Heinrich Klaasen of 131 and 142 runs respectively.
De Kock departed after contributing 174 runs after which Klaasen took the responsibility of continuing the destructive batting.
The right-handed batter scored 90 runs off just 49 balls with the help of 10 boundaries, two fours and eight sixes.
Klaasen was near to complete his well-deserved century but he played a sloppy short on Hasan Mahmud's slow delivery towards Deep Back Point and was caught by Mahmudullah on 90.
After Klaasen was out, David Miller scored a six and took his side's total to 382, which turned out to be too big for Shakib Al Hasan's men.
The in-form South Africa now play the struggling Pakistani side — who has lost three successive matches — in Chennai on October 27, a win for Proteas there would put one leg in the semi-final.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh play the Netherlands in Kolkata on October 28, where the Bengal Tigers would look to record their second win of the tournament.
