EAST LONDON: An injury to captain Faf du Plessis took some of the gloss off a comprehensive South African win in the third and final One-day International against Bangla­desh at Buffalo Park on Sunday.

Du Plessis retired hurt on 91 and had to be helped off the field with an acute lower back strain and took no further part in the match as South Africa completed a series clean sweep, winning by 200 runs.

He was withdrawn from the two-match Twenty20 International series which will complete what has been a dismal tour by Bangladesh.

Du Plessis was the top scorer in South Africa’s 369-6, their highest ODI total against Bangladesh and the highest total at the ground.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 169.

It was another humiliating defeat for Bangladesh, who suffered defeats by 10 wickets and 104 runs in the first two matches after similarly lop-sided losses in two Test matches.

Bangladesh were hit by injuries, notably to leading bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who missed all three matches, and opener Tamim Iqbal, who only played in one game.

Du Plessis was named man-of-the-match but could not collect his award. AB de Villiers, who took over the captaincy, said: “We have had a really good series. It was probably our best performance because this wicket probably suited them [Bangladesh] the most.”

Du Plessis looked set for a ninth ODI century before he pulled up as he turned for a second run. He had to be helped off the field. He hit ten fours and a six and only faced 67 balls.

Temba Bavuma, one of three changes in South Africa’s top seven in the batting order, made 48 and helped Quinton de Kock (73) put on 119 for the first wicket, while new cap Aiden Markram hit 66 as he and du Plessis added 151 off 116 balls for the third wicket before du Plessis retired hurt.

As in his Test debut, when he made 97 against the same opponents last month, Markram’s innings was ended by a run-out. Markram hit four fours and two sixes in an impressive 60-ball innings.

The match was soon over as a contest as Bangladesh lost their first five wickets for 61. There was a brief fightback as Shakib Al Hasan (63) and Sabbir Rahman (39) put on 67 for the sixth wicket before both fell to part-time off-spinner Markram.

Fast bowler Dane Paterson took 3-44.

De Kock was named man of the series. He scored 287 runs and was only dismissed twice.

Cricket South Africa announced that J.P. Duminy will take over as captain for the Twenty20 Internationals, to be played in Bloemfontein on Thursday and Potchefs­troom next Sunday.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

T. Bavuma c Liton b Mehedi 48
Q. de Kock c and b Mehedi 73
F. du Plessis retired hurt 91
A.K. Markram run out 66
A.B. de Villiers c Mashrafe b Rubel 20
F. Behardien not out 33
P.W.A. Mulder lbw b Taskin 2
A.L. Phehlukwayo c Mushfiqur b Taskin 5
K. Rabada not out 23

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-5) 8

TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 369

FALL OF WKTS: 1-119, 2-132, 3-289, 4-325, 5-329, 6-335.

DID NOT BAT: D. Paterson, Imran Tahir.

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 9-0-69-0 (1w); Mehedi Hasan 10-0-59-2; Rubel Hossain 10-0-75-1; Shakib Al Hasan 10-0-56-0 (2w); Taskin Ahmed 7-0-66-2 (1w); Mahmudullah 3-0-33-0 (1w); Sabbir Rahman 1-0-8-0.

BANGLADESH:

Imrul Kayes c Behardien b Paterson 1
Soumya Sarkar c Markram b Rabada 8
Liton Das lbw b Paterson 6
Mushfiqur Rahim c Rabada b Phehlukwayo 8
Shakib Al Hasan c sub b Markram 63
Mahmudullah lbw b Mulder 2
Sabbir Rahman c de Kock b Markram 39
Mehedi Hasan c de Villiers b Imran 15
Mashrafe Mortaza c de Kock b Paterson 17
Taskin Ahmed c sub b Imran 2
Rubel Hossain not out 0

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-5, NB-1) 8

TOTAL (all out, 40.4 overs) 169

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-15, 3-20, 4-51, 5-61, 6-128, 7-135, 8-163, 9-169.

BOWLING: Rabada 8-1-33-1 (2w); Paterson 9-0-44-3 (1w); Mulder 8-0-32-1 (1nb, 1w); Phehlukwayo 4-1-13-1; Imran Tahir 8.4-1-27-2; Markram 3-0-18-2.

RESULT: South Africa won by 200 runs to win three-match series 3-0.

UMPIRES: Shaun George (South Africa) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: R.S.A. Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

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

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Quinton de Kock.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2017