Twitter Reactions: Kagiso Rabada's fifer helps South Africa level series against Bangladesh
Rabada was named the Player of the Match for his 5/39.
South Africa staged a comfortable victory against Bangladesh in the second ODI of the three-match series and it has nicely propped up the series with one more game to go in Centurion on March 23. Kagiso Rabada’s fifer along with Quinton de Kock’s blazing innings at the top was good enough for South Africa to go past the visitors after a tough loss in the first ODI at the Supersport Park in Centurion two days ago.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The visitors were off to a disastrous start, losing their top five batters with just 34 runs on board at the 13th over mark. Rabada picked three wickets with the new ball while Lungi Ngidi and Wayne Parnell chipped in with one wicket for South Africa until the experienced Mahmudullah and Afif Hossain stitched together a partnership.
The duo added 60 runs for the sixth wicket but Tabraiz Shamsi managed to remove Mahmudullah and the onus was on Afif to take the side to a respectable total. The all-rounder put up another 86-run partnership with Mehidy Hasan but finally perished in the 46th over for an excellent 109-ball 72, comprising of nine boundaries. Mehidy soon followed Afif as Rabada picked up yet another fifer in ODIs to ensure the hosts had the upper hand with just 195 to chase in 50 overs.
South Africa cruise to victory with a sizzling start from De Kock
In reply, the Proteas were off to a quickfire start with de Kock going after the bowling from one end. The wicketkeeper-batter added 86 runs for the opening partnership with Janneman Malan and gave no chances to the Bangladesh bowlers. However, Mehidy picked up Malan for 26 in the 13th over while de Kock was removed two overs later after a blistering knock of 62 in 41 deliveries.
Kyle Verryne (58*) and Temba Bavuma (37) contributed to the chase and the home side wrapped up the game in 37.2 overs with seven wickets in hand. The series is now levelled at 1-1 with one game to go and it will be a massive fixture for both teams in different perspectives.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the win:
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