Bangladesh vs South Africa has throughout cricketing history never been a rather popular or well discussed match up. On the occasions when the two teams have come head to head, it’s often had the aura of a one sided affair of a dominant powerhouse obliterating a far inferior underdog. Now, for the first time ever, the Bangladeshis can approach this series with hope, hope and realistic belief that they can topple another one of cricket’s superpowers.
Having just beaten the World’s second best ODI team India (2-1) and before that whitewashing the Pakistanis on their home turf, Bangladesh will be confident of causing another upset to keep establishing themselves as a team on the rise. Youthful players like the 19 year old left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman could be key in plotting South Africa’s downfall if he maintains the same brilliance he displayed in the first two ODI’s against India- taking 11 wickets. Their experienced contingent, the likes of Shakib-al-Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza will be keen to ensure their dismal record against the Rainbow Nation ends on this tour. Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar, the budding opening pair, will be hopeful that they can get Bangladesh off to a solid start against the barrage of brilliant bowling on offer from the South Africans.
It is worth noting though that the South Africans have only lost once to Bangladesh in their history- at the 2007 World Cup, by margin of 67 runs. Such a result was quite startling at the time, given the obvious difference in stature between the two teams. Their World Cup rematch in 2011 (which was the last time the two teams met) ended with a 206 run victory for South Africa, restoring what was considered parity at the time. Now, though, however, circumstances are rather different and positivity is firmly present amongst the Bangladesh ranks, but will South Africa continue to exert their sustained superiority?
South Africa are a team decorated with spectacular stars, players who on any given day can dismantle the opposition to the point of no return. Players like De Villiers, Du Plessis, Amla, De Kock, Morkel, Duminy, Miller and Tahir can easily snatch games from competitors grasps while even newbies like Russouw and Rabada are expected to showcase their talents. David Wiese has already begun a display of his skill with 3/13 in the warm up match against the BCB XI yesterday, a match which South Africa easily won by ten wickets. However, with the two teams separated by just three ranking places on the ICC T20 rankings and having competed in only two T20 games against each other previously, the series could be closely contested. Faf Du Plessis, the Proteas T20 Captain recently lauded Bangladesh’s resurgence stating: “It’s great Bangladesh cricket is doing well. It makes us come here and respect their capabilities as a team. We are going to play the best players to try and beat Bangladesh.” Such statements prove that the other cricketing nations no longer see Bangladesh as pushovers, but rather as strong competitors capable of taking on the world’s best.
Even on the ODI circuit, it is expected that the matches will be far more evenly matched than on previous occasions. The last time South Africa tackled Bangladesh in Dhaka and Chittagong in 2008, the scoreline was 3-0, all games won emphatically by South Africa. Bangladesh will be hoping this time will be different, that this time their adoring fans will have something to cheer about. South Africa, too, will be keen to get back to winning ways, in their first outing after their heart breaking World Cup exit. Having last been in action three and a half months ago, their fans will be eagerly anticipating their return.
Starting tomorrow up to the 15th of July, Bangladesh vs South Africa will be a common fixture on the shorter format schedule. While the Ashes starts in a mere four days, passionate South Africans and Bangladeshis will instead have their minds on this intriguing battle and be keen to see who comes out on top in what is sure to be an enthralling contest.
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