While Mahmudullah displayed bravery and experience to score his third World Cup century, Bangladesh once again gave up a pitiful amount of runs, losing to South Africa by 149 runs on Tuesday at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Quinton de Kock’s explosive 174-run innings and Heinrich Klassen’s quick 90 helped South Africa record a whopping 382-5 after winning the toss, but their journey did not start well.
Bangladesh achieved redemption when a Shoriful Islam inswing bowled the opener for 12 after dropping opener Reza Heindricks early. In the eighth over, Mehidy Hasan Miraz reduced South Africa to 36-2 by taking advantage of Van der Dussen’s vulnerability against spin, trapping the latter for only one run.
It took some time for De Kock and Markram to save the innings, but once they were settled in, they picked up the pace. Markram amassed 131 runs in the stand until Litton caught him off Shakib al Hasan, but Bangladesh’s happiness was short-lived.
De Kock looked to be in pain and fatigued under the extreme heat but he was so well set he could hit any bowler at will. Klassen joined him and upon a solid base they started carnage.
South Africa reached 238 after 40 overs and Bangladesh were expecting the storm in the last ten. It actually turned out into a wildest tempest as the batters started hitting boundaries in almost every alternative delivery.
Just when it looked De Kock heading towards his double ton, he miscued a Hasan Mahmud delivery to off side to be caught by Nasum Ahmed. De Kock made 174 off 140 with five fours and seven sixes.
Klassen missed his three-figure as well as he was dismissed in the second ball of the final over to the same bowler. By then he made a whirlwind 90 off just 49. South Africa took the match away from Bangladesh.
In pursuit of the herculean task the openers took a steady route and scored 30 off the first six overs. But Tanzid Hassan and one-down Najmul Hossain got out in the consecutive balls of Marco Jansen. Both caught behind with the leg-side deliveries proving the frailty of the Bangladesh batters.
That misery continued when skipper Shakib nicked a ball way outside the off-stump to get out for one and Mushfiqur Rahim held at the deep backward point for eight when he was trying an uppercut.
After a very poor innings in which he was dismissed for 22 off 44, Litton was replaced by Mahmudullah.
By then, it was obvious that the effort was futile and the only thing that mattered was the margin of defeat. But Mahmudullah, who was added to the team at the last minute amid a lot of turmoil, was desperate to get some recognition.
All of the lower order batsmen provided him with solid support, as Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan, and Nasum Ahmed all reached double digits and, more crucially, stayed in the wicket.
Mahmudullah started to build up innings without much pressure and started frustrating the opponents. The right-hander, who scored two centuries in World Cup 2015, picked up his third World Cup century with some spectacular shots.
He not only reduced the margin but also gained pride and perhaps answered all the critics and lampoons he had to face. His jump in joy for scoring the figure when the team is losing by a huge margin may look odd, but considering the grand narrative that can be understood.
In the end he was dismissed for a run-a-ball 111 and Bangladesh bundled out for 233.
With four defeats in a row Bangladesh are now bottom of the table and their semifinal hope is all but finished.
