T20 World Cup : Tigers suffer another WC heartbreak

Bangladesh suffered a heartbreaking four-run defeat to South Africa in a low-scoring thriller in their second game of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Nassau County Ground in New York on Monday.

Towhid Hridoy top-scored with a 34-ball 37, while Mahmudullah made 20 but it could only take them to 109-7 in reply to 113-6 by the Proteas.

Keshav Maharaj was the standout bowler for South Africa, claiming 3-27, while Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje took two wickets each.

With the bat, Heinrich Klassen scored the most with 46 off 44 balls, and the next highest of 29 runs off 38 balls came from David Miller.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib took 3-18, his career-best figures, and Taskin Ahmed and Rishad Hossain picked up two and one, respectively.

Bangladesh, needing a meagre target to earn their first T20I victory over the Proteas in their ninth meeting, made a shaky start as they lost opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim for a run-a-ball 9 with two boundaries in the second over to Rabada.

Skipper Shanto then attempted to curb the initial damage with Liton Das. However, it was in vain after the latter was caught by David Miller at extra cover for 13.

The scenario turned worse when Shakib Al Hasan, who made eight in the first tie against Sri Lanka, attempted to hook Nortje but was caught by Aiden Markram for three.

Shanto followed in Shakib’s steps in Nortje’s next over to mount the pressure on the Tigers as he fell in the exact same manner to the same fielder in the same fielding position to reduce the Tigers to 50-4.

Towhid, who played the pivotal role in registering the Tigers’ victory in the tournament opener, then led the charge with a steady bat alongside the veteran Mahmudullah.

The youngster smashed Maharaj for a maximum in the fourth delivery of the 14th over, followed by a four in the next over to pull the side beyond the 80-run mark.

His spontaneous batting was giving the fans a big hope of victory but it was shattered when Towhid was trapped leg before by Rabada in the first delivery of the 17th over, putting the side 19 runs away from the victory.

Following his dismissal, Mahmudullah and Jaker Ali failed to take them to victory as they both got dismissed in the final over, where 11 was required but Bangladesh could take only six.

After Markram opted to bat first on a pitch where batting first has been difficult, Quinton de Kock started with a six and a four but Tanzim got the wicket of Reeza Hendricks for a duck to help the side make a good start.

He then claimed the big wicket of de Kock, who made 18, and Tristan Stubbs for a duck, and in between, Taskin got the better of Aiden Markram (4), leaving South Africa at a precarious 23-4 in just 4.2 overs.

Klaasen and Miller, the two natural stroke-makers, put their ego aside to make a slow recovery, and it initially looked like they ripped the benefit by sharing a 79-run for the fifth wicket.

However, their plan to go for an all-out attack in the death overs didn’t work, with Taskin rattling the stump of Klaasen and in the next over, Rishad knocked Miller over with a delivery that had extra bounce.

Bangladesh bowlers then restricted Marco Jansen and Maharaj with excellent bowling, giving the batters a mediocre target to chase.