Johannesburg – The Proteas made light work of a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) XI with an eight-wicket win (with 48 balls to spare) in their T20 warm-up match in Fatullah on Friday.
The outing was a positive start to the tour after the winter break; all of the bowlers ran in for at least an over, and the top four batsmen spent valuable time at the crease in the sweltering heat.
The bowlers capitalised on the aggressive intent from Bangladesh’s batsmen upfront, and managed to pick up wickets at regular intervals to eventually dismiss the hosts for 99. David Wiese (3/13) and Kyle Abbott (2/2) were the top wicket-takers in the pace department, with the spin trio of Aaron Phangiso (2/19), JP Duminy (1/16), and Eddie Leie (1/11) showing good control and variation on a deck which offered little assistance.
Quinton de Kock (35 off 34) and new opening partner, AB de Villiers (25 off 19), blasted their way to a 64-run opening stand (10×4’s) before retiring out. Duminy (17 off 13) and David Miller (20 off 16) then closed off the match in explosive style in front of a near-capacity crowd.
“Coming to Bangladesh is never an easy tour,” Phangiso said after the match.
“To get a win like this is satisfying, guys have been working hard in hot conditions and to see the likes of Quinton batting the way that he did after no cricket for a while is good.”
The Proteas are not too concerned with the rest of the line-up missing out on middle time, and Phangiso insisted winning confidence will be a good boost ahead of Sunday’s opening match.
“What matters is the fact that we got here on the day and achieved what we wanted, which was a win. We have another practice day tomorrow which will allow guys to hit some balls and to finalise their preparation.”
ANA