DHAKA: Faf du Plessis led from the front as South Africa flexed their bowling muscles to thrash Bangladesh by 52 runs in the first Twenty20 International on Sunday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.

Opting to bat first, the visitors lost their talisman A.B. de Villiers in the very first over but du Plessis struck an unbeaten 79 off 61 balls to power the Proteas to 148-4 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Their bowling attack contained more firepower than Bangladesh could handle and the Proteas shot out the hosts for 96 inside 19 overs to cruise to an easy victory.

“It’s the beauty of the team,” du Plessis, adjudged man-of-the-match, said. “We’ve got world class players like AB but we don’t rely on one. There are so many other players in the team who can be match-winners.”

Arafat Sunny gave Bangladesh a rousing start, dismissing de Villiers in the very first over and the left-arm spinner sent back J.P. Duminy as well as South Africa kept losing wickets regularly to find themselves in trouble.

Du Plessis hit eight fours in his sixth T20 International half-century and found an able ally in Rilee Rossouw (31 not out), adding 58 runs with him in 6.4 overs to take the team close to the 150-run mark.

Defending the total, the South African spinners got more purchase from the wicket and did not allow any partnership to prosper, frustrating the hosts who were hoping to replicate their limited-overs form having beaten Pakistan and India in recent home series.

Kyle Abbott dismissed Tamim Iqbal in the first over to draw first blood and the hosts capitulated, failing to withstand the relentless hostility.

Shakib Al Hasan top-scored for them with 26 off 30 balls, while debutant Litton Das managed 22 as only three Bangladeshi batsmen managed double digits.

Duminy, David Wiese and Kagiso Rabada claimed two wickets apiece for South Africa.

“Our batters played too many shots but it’s not a worry. We can fix it in the next match,” Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said.

The teams return to Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium for the second Twenty20 on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

A.B. de Villiers c Mashrafe b Arafat 2 Q. de Kock c Das b Nasir 12 F. du Plessis not out 79 J.P. Duminy c Nasir b Arafat 18 D.A. Miller lbw b Shakib 1 R.R. Rossouw not out 31

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-2, NB-1) 5

TOTAL (for four wkts, 20 overs) 148

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-31, 3-77, 4-90.

DID NOT BAT: D. Wiese, W.D. Parnell, K.J. Abbott, A.M. Phangiso, K. Rabada.

BOWLING: Arafat Sunny 3-0-19-2; Nasir Hossain 4-0-37-1 (2w); Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-24-1; Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-30-0 (1nb); Sohag Gazi 2-0-16-0; Mashrafe Mortaza 3-0-20-0.

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c de Kock b Abbott 5 Soumya Sarkar c Duminy b Rabada 7 Shakib Al Hasan c Parnell b Wiese 26 Mushfiqur Rahim c Miller b Duminy 17 Sabbir Rahman c de Kock b Duminy 4 Nasir Hossain c Rossouw b Phangiso 1 Litton Das c de Villiers b Wiese 22 Mashrafe Mortaza c de Villiers b Rabada 5 Sohag Gazi run out 3 Arafat Sunny not out 1 Mustafizur Rahman b Parnell 1

Extras (lb-2, w-2) 4

TOTAL (all out, 18.5 overs) 96

FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-13, 3-50, 4-56, 5-57, 6-71, 7-86, 8-93, 9-94.

BOWLING: Abbott 2-0-10-1 (1w); Rabada 3-0-28-2; Parnell 2.5-0-12-1; Wiese 3-0-12-2 (1w); Phangiso 4-0-21-1; Duminy 4-0-11-2.

RESULT: South Africa won by 52 runs.

UMPIRES: Enamul Haque and Sharfuddoula Saikat (both Bangladesh).

TV UMPIRE: Anisur Rahman (Bangladesh).

MATCH REFEREE: D.C. Boon (Australia).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Faf du Plessis.

SECOND MATCH: Dhaka, Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2015

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