Bangladesh outclassed despite Riyad ton
At one point in the World Cup pool game between Bangladesh and South Africa in Mumbai on Tuesday, many Tigers' fans back home must have wondered whether Shakib Al Hasan's troops would be able to surpass Quinton de Kock's individual score of 174 off 140 deliveries.
Bangladesh did manage to do that, thanks to a Mahmudullah Riyad century but the Tigers still lost the game by a massive margin of 149 runs as they were bundled out for 233 in 46.4 overs in chase of a mammoth 383-run target set by the Proteas.
Reaching the three-figure mark off 104 deliveries in the 45th over, Riyad leaped and celebrated as he became the cricketer with the most centuries in World Cups for Bangladesh.
With five down for just 58 in the 15th over, Bangladesh had lost the game long ago and was staring at the prospect of suffering their biggest-margin defeat in the mega event. However, fighting a lone battle, Riyad scored a run-a-ball 111 -- his fourth ton overall and third century in the mega event after notching two successive tons in the 2015 edition. Only Shakib (2) has more centuries in the World Cup for Bangladesh.
It was the Tigers' fourth successive defeat in the ongoing World Cup as the dream of reaching a first-ever semifinal now seems to be all but over with Bangladesh dropping all the way down to the bottom on the 10-team table.
Chasing the huge target, the Bangladesh top order fell like a house of cards. How the Bangladesh batters struggled against the Proteas' bowling attack is reflected by the fact that the next best score to Riyad's ton was opener Liton Das' 22 off 44 deliveries.
In bowling, Bangladesh made a decent start as they picked up two early wickets to reduce South Africa to 36 for two inside eight overs. However, since then the bowlers lost way as the Proteas unleashed their brute force to pile up their third 350-plus total this World Cup.
De Kock and skipper Aiden Markram added 131 runs for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed after scoring 60 off 69 deliveries.
De Kock was then joined by an in-form Heinrich Klaasen as the duo ratcheted up the scoring rate at the latter stage of the game. De Kock smashed the highest-ever score at the venue while Klaasen departed in the final over only after a 49-ball 90 as South Africa amassed 382 for five.
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