Mahmudullah’s ton in vain as South Africa wins by 149 runs thanks to de Kock’s 174 and Klaasen’s 90 in the men’s ODI World Cup

Quinton de Kock scored his third century in as many games, a 140-ball 174, to lead South Africa to a 149-run victory against Bangladesh in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium. Heinrich Klassen also scored a blistering 49-ball 90.

With their fourth victory in five games, South Africa moved up to second place in the standings with 8 points, ahead of New Zealand on Net Run Rate. India is in first place with 10 points after five victories.

South Africa chose to bat first, and after falling to 36/2 in the eighth over, de Kock led them to 382/5 in 50 overs with the assistance of captain Aiden Markram (60) and Klassen (90 off 49 balls).

South Africa, led by de Kock and Klaasen, wreaked havoc in the last 10 overs, scoring 144 runs. In order to further strengthen the South African innings, David Miller smashed an unbeaten 34 off 15 balls.

Then, when South Africa reduced Bangladesh to 42/4, their bowlers grabbed control, taking two wickets in two deliveries from Marco Jansen, one each from Kagiso Rabada and Lizaad Williams, and ended Bangladesh’s struggle during the first Power-play.

Senior batsman Mahmudullah had a fantastic counterattacking knock, scoring 111 runs at the rate of one per ball. However, his efforts were in vain as Bangladesh suffered a 149-run setback after losing too many wickets early and were all out for 233 in 46.4 overs.

Mahmudullah fought alone, hitting 11 boundaries and four maximums in 104 balls to achieve his century.

Bangladesh’s hopes were dashed during the Power Play when Jansen sent back consecutive deliveries from Tanzid Hasan (12), who gloved a short one behind to Klaasen, and Najmul Hossain Shanto, who flicked into the keeper’s hands for a first-ball duck. Shakib Al Hasan, the captain, gave Klaasen a heavy outside edge off Lizzad Williams in the eighth over, bringing the score to 31/3.

Bangladesh fell to 81/6 when Mushfiqur Rahim (8), Litton Das, who struggled for 22 runs off 44 deliveries, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (11) were all caught for cheap runs.

In order to give the total some legitimacy and diminish the severity of the loss, Mahmudullah put up a half-century partnership with Mustafizur Rahman (11) then scored 41 runs for the seventh wicket with Nasum Ahmed (18).

Williams, Jansen, and Rabada each took two wickets while Gerald Coetzee collected three for 62 runs.

Earlier, Quinton de Kock, who kicked off his World Cup campaign on October 7 against Sri Lanka with a 100 and followed it up with a 109 against Australia a few days later, took advantage of the good batting strip in hot and muggy conditions, slamming 15 boundaries and seven maximums during an innings of pure class.

After South Africa lost two early wickets, he played it safe when he needed to, built his innings patiently as he raced to fifty and hundred, and then used sheer power to pound the Bangladeshi spinners into the ground as he almost reached his highest-ever ODI total of 178.

As a result, Quinton de Kock passed Virat Kohli, who had 354 runs from five games, and raised his total for the tournament to 407, becoming the first hitter to reach that mark.

De Kock and Aiden Markram (60) had two significant partnerships that helped South Africa escape a precarious 30/2 after losing Rezza Hendrick (12) and Rassie van der Dussen (1) during the Power-play. De Kock and Heinrich Klassen added 142 runs for the fourth wicket.

The 30-year-old Johannesburg wicketkeeper-batsman reached fifty runs in only 47 balls, fifty runs in 54 deliveries, and fifty runs in just 28 balls for his third fifty. His magnificent 174-run innings overall required 140 deliveries.

De Kock scored 22 runs off Shakib Al Hasan’s 43rd over, smashing 6 4 6 4 and a single in the last five deliveries to reach 150 runs. In the next over, he extended the mayhem by hitting Shoriful Islam for consecutive boundaries, scoring 29 runs off seven legal pitches. Klassen blasted the fourth delivery of the game, adding salt to the wounds.

De Kock was dismissed by shoving the ball down Nasum Ahmed’s throat at deep backward point just as it seemed like he would continue to bat. The little audience applauded him as he left.

However, Klaasen, who had matched QDK shot for shot throughout their century partnership, took control when he hammered some spectacular sixes to gallop to 90 off 49 balls, prolonging Bangladesh’s woes. Following his 109 off 67 balls against England in the previous game, Klaasen hit two fours and eight sixes in another explosive performance.

Brief ratings:

By 149 runs, South Africa defeated Bangladesh 233 all out in 46.4 overs (Mahmudullah 111; Gerald Coetzee 3-62, Marco Jansen 2-39, Kagiso Rabada 2-42, Lizaad Williams 2-56) with a total of 382/5 in 50 overs (Quinton de Kock 174, Aiden Markram 60, Heinrich Klaasen 90; Hasan Mahmud 2-67).