POTCHEFSTROOM (South Africa), Oct 4: Herschelle Gibbs scored his third consecutive century to lead South Africa to an emphatic win over Bangladesh in the first One-day International here Thursday.

South Africa won by 168 runs after scoring 301 for eight, of which Gibbs made 153, and dismissing Bangladesh for 133 in 41.5 overs.

Opener Gibbs, who made 116 against Kenya and 116 retired against India in the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, scored his runs off 130 balls with 17 fours and three sixes to become only the third player after Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar to achieve a hat trick of one-day hundreds.

It was Gibbs’s tenth limited overs century and his career best one-day score. The only blemish in an innings of impressive power and attacking strokeplay came after Gibbs had reached 118, when he was dropped at deep mid-wicket by Hannan Sarkar off the bowling of medium pacer Khaled Mahmud.

Any chance Bangladesh had of staying in the match disappeared when they slumped to 26 for five in the 15th over, with all five batsmen failing to reach double figures.

Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini was the key with a blistering opening spell of seven overs in which he took three for 12 on his way to final figures of three for 18 off 10 overs.