One other T20 World Cup match on the Nassau Stadium, one other cliffhanger that noticed South Africa edge out Bangladesh. Nonetheless, which gamers stood out on this stellar SA-BAN conflict?
SA vs BAN Player Ratings: Was that the repeat of the Sunday’s India vs Pakistan match? Well, it surely looked like it as the Nassau Stadium’s sluggish pitch offered another low-scoring thriller. Bangladesh had an easy chase on their hands with 94/4 at one point and needing just 20 runs more with six wickets and 18 balls in hand. However, an excellent display of death bowling meant the Protea leak just 26 runs in the last five overs. With this, the Aiden Markram-led side have become the first team to book their place in the Super 8s.
SA vs BAN Player Rating: Who scored 10/10?
Bangladesh
Tanzid Hasan (3/10): After hitting two beautiful cover drives to Kagiso Rabada, the left-hander edged one to the keeper in the same over and went out for just 9 runs.
Litton Das (3.5/10): A soft dismissal for the wicket-keeper who hit straight to the hands of the cover fielder on the very first ball of spin. He looked decent but his painstaking stay ended with 9 off 13.
Najmul Hossain Shanto (4.5/10): Opened the innings today but failed to take his side home despite enjoying a decent start. He hit no boundaries in the 23 balls he faced, adding pressure to the middle-order. His captaincy, however, was great in the first half.
Towhid Hridoy (8/10): Was by far the best Bangladeshi batter of the day, Hridoy made 37. He was also the only Bangladeshi to have a strike rate of more than 100, striking 2 fours and as many sixes. It was his wicket in the 18th over that completely turned the game in SA’s favor.
Shakib Al Hasan (0.5/10): It has been a torrid start to his 13th T20 World Cup campaign. The ever-so experienced all-rounder failed to provide any spark in the game.
Jaker Ali (2/10): Came in place of Soumya Sarkar for this game, Jaker Ali had a superb chance to make a name for himself. However, he struggled to time the ball at Nassau, getting out for 8.
Mahmudullah (6/10): So close, yet so far was the case with Mahmudullah. While he battled all the way through, the right-hander felt inches close to finishing the game as he was caught off the penultimate delivery.
Rishad Hossain (7.5/10): The track did help leg-spinner Rishad, who took 3 wickets in the last game. However, he leaked a couple of sixes but the gamble paid off when Rishad took the big fish in David Miller at the death.
Taskin Ahmed (9/10): Alongside Tanzim Sakib, Taskin Ahmed troubled the South African batting massively. He cleaned up Aiden Markram with an absolute peach and even denied Heinrich Klaasen a fifty. His lines and lengths were quite up to the mark.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib (10/10): The player who set the tone for Bangladesh, Tanzim Hasan was the wrecker-in-chief. He seamed the ball superbly. Despite going for 11 runs in his first over, he gave away only 7 runs in his next 3 overs. He claimed the big wickets of Reeza Hendricks, Quinton De Kock and Tristan Stubbs.
Mustafizur Rahman (7.5/10): Bowled all four his overs across different phases but still leaked runs at a superb economy rate of 4.50. Mustafizur went wicketless however.
T20 World Cup
South Africa
Reeza Hendricks (0.5/10): Hendricks couldn’t have done much when a clinical out-swinger trapped the Protea opener in front. He was out for a humiliating golden duck.
Quinton de Kock (5/10): Played with an aggressive intent right from the start. The experienced campaigner looked great until Tanzim cramped him up by coming from round the stumps before De Kock ultimately lost his wicket.
Aiden Markram (1/10): Was cleaned up with a one that went on that, the South African captain failed to do anything with the bat. However, his superb catch in the last over proved to be a defining point.
Tristan Stubbs (0/10): A forgettable outing for an in-form Stubbs. He played four dot balls before handing a catch to Shakib with a rather tame shot.
Heinrich Klaasen (8.5/10): One of the best white-ball hitters going around, Heinrich Klaasen earned himself the Player of the Match award with a fighting 46. He hammered 3 sixes and was the main reason why South Africa breached the 110-run mark.
David Miller (6.5/10): South Africa’s savior against the Dutch, Miller once again battled on a difficult New York pitch. He, however, played an uncharacteristic knock of 29 off 38 balls.
Marco Jansen (7.5/10): Bowled 3 back-to-back overs inside the powerplay and contained the Bangladeshi batters. His economy of 4.2 was superb for SA, despite him going wicketless.
Keshav Maharaj (9/10): Three wickets, economy of 6.8 and a courageous last over from the wily left-armer Keshav Maharaj. The Indian-origin spinner extracted all the juice that was present for the slower bowlers.
Kagiso Rabada (9/10): Rabada brought South Africa back into the fore by claiming the wicket of Hridoy. He started off with two poor overpitched deliveries but got hold of the situation rather quickly.
Anrich Nortje (9.5/10): It has been a wonderful start from the paceman, who endured a horrible IPL 2024. Nortje hurried the Bangladeshi batters with some of his deliveries even going above 150 kmph.
Ottniel Baartman (7/10): Often amongst wickets, Baartman failed to take any against Bangladesh and leaked 27 runs in his 4 overs.
Editors pick
