Bangladesh defeated South Africa by nine wickets on Wednesday in the third day of one-day international to claim their first series win in any competition in the country. The visitors were helped by skipper Tamim Iqbal’s 87 not out from 82 balls and even had 141 balls to spare, sealing the series 2-1, after winning the first ODI by 38 runs some days ago.

The win against South Africa on Wednesday marked Bangladesh’s biggest overseas win, as regards the balls that remained at the end of the day, which in this case was 141. The win ended South Africa’s 20-year-run of never losing to Bangladesh at home.

The loss on Wednesday’s has also muddled South Africa’s chance of automatically qualifying for the 2023 World Cup.  They have also dropped to ninth place on the ODI Super League table. South Africa lost to Bangladesh with a score of 154 against 156, their lowest against the tourists. South Africa began to crumble on Wednesday after Quinton de Kock was caught by Mehidy Hassan, forcing him to lose all 10 wickets he had won for his side. They suffered more after Temba Buvuma and Rassie can see Dussen were both sent out.

Bangladesh dominated the game, and after efforts from Iqbal and Taskin Ahmed’s 5 wicked from 35 runs, there were able to set themselves on the path to victory. It was evident that the players from Bangladesh stretched themselves to the extreme just to record a win. For example, this was Iqbal’s first half-century since July last year at Zimbabwe.

But the story does not end here as both countries would meet in a two-Test series, which begins on March 31.

Written by: Leon Osamor