A pulsating second international century by Rilee Rossouw powered the Proteas to a first win at the 2022\u00a0ICC Men\u2019s T20 World Cup after they thumped Bangladesh by a record 104 runs at the SCG in Sydney on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The left-hander smashed eight sixes and seven fours in a blistering career-best 109 off 56 balls to help the South Africans amass 205 for five. Anrich Nortje (4\/10) and Tabraiz Shamsi (3\/20) then shared seven wickets as the Tigers were bundled out for 101 in 16.3 overs handing the Proteas their biggest ever T20I victory against a Test-playing nation.<\/p>\n
It was a result that kick-started the World Cup for the South Africans after their opening match against Zimbabwe ended disappointingly in the Hobart rain.<\/p>\n
Captain Temba Bavuma’s charges had to settle for a point in that game due to the weather and the elements against threatened proceedings at the Sydney Cricket Ground when the teams were forced off after only 5.3 overs.<\/p>\n
But fortunately for the Proteas, they returned uninterrupted not long after and went on to complete a comprehensive win, one that moved them to three points in Group 2 and significantly bolstered their net run-rate.<\/p>\n
The result was set up by Rossouw and also the excellent Quinton de Kock, who struck 63 off 38 balls (7 fours, 3 sixes) after Bavuma won the toss and batted first.<\/p>\n
The skipper was out early when he edged Taskin Ahmed behind for two in the first over, but from there it was one way traffic for the African side.<\/p>\n
Wicketkeeper De Kock and Rossouw shared in a record second wicket partnership of 168, beating the previous mark of 131 held by Faf du Plessis and Reeza Hendricks at Cape Town in 2019.<\/p>\n
The former went on to record his 14th T20I 50, while the in-form latter posted his second successive ton after making 100* against India at Indore earlier this month. In between Rossouw hit 54* in a warm-up game against New Zealand, whilst he did not bat in the abandoned match against Zimbabwe earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
Despite their partnership, the Proteas’ innings tailed off at the end, with the final 5.3 overs yielding just 35 runs for the loss of three more wickets – the eventual target set at 206.<\/p>\n
However, the bowlers more than made up for the poor finish with Nortje spearheading a ruthless display. The fast bowler rocked Bangladesh with three early wickets – the two openers Soumya Sarkar (15) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (9) as well as captain Shakib Al Hasan (1) – leaving the score on 39 for three.<\/p>\n
After Kagiso Rabada (1\/24) removed Afif Hossain (1), Shamsi made merry with three more scalps mixed with one for Keshav Maharaj (1\/24) as the Asians were dismissed with 21 balls to spare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"