Bangladesh register historic ODI series win in South Africa

Centurion, March 24 (IANS): Bangladesh registered their maiden ODI series win in South Africa, after sealing it 2-1 when they beat the host by nine wickets in the third and final match, here on Wednesday.

Taskin Ahmed’s first five-wicket haul (5/35) in eight years helped Bangladesh bowl out South Africa for 154. Janneman Malan (39 off 56) and Keshav Maharaj (28 off 39) were the top-scorers for the Proteas.

In reply, skipper Tamim Iqbal (c) smashed a fine unbeaten fifty (87 off 82) as Bangladesh chased down the target in only 26.3 overs. Apart from Tamim, Liton Das (48 off 57) and Shakib Al Hasan (18 not out off 20) also played valuable knocks while Keshav Maharaj (1/36 picked the only wicket for South Africa.

Before this tour, South Africa had never lost to Bangladesh at home in 20 years.

The 2-1 series loss also dents South Africa’s progress towards automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup, given they are down in ninth place on the ODI Super League points table.

Brief scores: South Africa 154 in 37 overs (Janneman Malan 39, Keshav Maharaj 28; Taskin Ahmed 5-35) lost to Bangladesh 156/1 in 26.3 overs (Tamim Iqbal 87 not out, Liton Das 48) by 9 wickets.