Live report: Bangladesh vs South Africa, Wankhede

Before we come to them, South Africa are now second on the points table with just the one loss from five games, they’ve squeezed themselves between India and New Zealand, and their NRR is the best of the lot: 2.370! They will now fly to Chennai for their match against Pakistan on Friday.

Bangladesh, at the bottom of the table, now move closer to home, to Kolkata, for two games, the first of which is against Netherlands. So they’ll hope they can get two points out of that fixture at least, but lemme remind you they’re giant-slayers Netherlands! So no easy games in this World cup anymore, and the Kolkata pitch is such that it could favour the Netherlands quicks, like it happened in Dharamsala. Four losses in a row for Bangladesh, the worst NRR of the tournament right now, and lots of things to improve upon – their batting fireworks, bowling in the death, fielding standards, big-tournament mentality and maybe a lot more.

Mahmdullah holed out off Coetzee soon after reaching his century and Shoriful Islam then hands a leading edge off Williams to wrap up the innings, Bangladesh are 233 all out, and now there are handshakes all around.

Commendable, even if valiant, innings from Mahmudullah. He has taken his team past 200 single-handedly with a knock he may remember forever, despite the result. You can't affect the result all by yourself in a team sport like this, but you can surely make a statement, you can frustrate the opposition, you can find form, you can make some records, and you can do all that on a big stage such as this one, called a World Cup. Mahmudullah is playing his fourth World Cup, it's his third World Cup century and the previous two also came against big opposition's - England and New Zealand in consecutive games in 2015.

He leaps in the air after taking the single to go from 99 too 100, soaks in the applause, takes his helmet off while looking at his team-mates in the dugout and wraps it up with a sajda near the pitch.

Just a matter of two wickets for South Africa, but Mahmudullah is not going to let this one go just like that. He's throwing his bat around, he's collecting boundaries, and he has inspired No. 10 Mustafizur Rahman as well. They have been scoring in this partnership for well more than run a ball, they're closing in on 200, and while I type this, Mahmudullah smokes a Lizaad Williams short ball into the stands over midwicket for a six as confident as any he's hit in the last few years. Whether Bangladesh are helping their own NRR or not (their campaign may not come down to that), they're certainly not letting South Africa's NRR go through the roof.

It's a lost cause and has been for a while, but there's no credit that can be taken away from Mahmudullah for not making this a loss worse than it's going to be. He has stuck it out against the moving ball, against both pace and spin, scoring most of his runs square of the wicket and he has just unleashed another sweet pull, off Jansen, dispatched to the midwicket boundary. Bangladesh have gone past 150 now, but that's not a reason to celebrate.

Another one-sided game, here in Mumbai. Another game not going down to the wire (pardon my cliche). Three upsets, sure, but no close finishes, and very little jeopardy thanks to the tournament format.

Andre Fidel Fernando argues that this World Cup has hardly entertained us the way it could. Read it all here.

Alright, Nasum showed us that he can bat, and he can bat at No. 8. He showed that especially at the start of the 29th over when he struck back-to-back boundaries off Coetzee, one convincing and the other not-so unconvincing. And when he tried to go for a third, Coetzee banged in a bouncer at 141.4kmh which Nasum tried to swing for but ended up handing a return catch to the bowler, for 19.

I like the intention from Nasum. You're going down anyway today, so why not go down fighting instead of defending?

Here's Isam again, this time on Bangladesh's long tail:

"Nasum Ahmed wouldn't consider himself a tailender. He can bat. Everyone knows. But he is one of those batters who scores when nothing much is at stake. His inclusion today, and the exclusion of Towhid Hridoy, has given Bangladesh a very long tail. After Nasum come the three fast bowlers who have been earnest in their effort to improve their batting, but they are pretty ordinary. Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud are all No. 11s. This could end quickly in Mumbai."

We pretty much know where this game is headed so why not listen to how sad Shane Bond is about de Kock's retirement after this World Cup?

Litton Das was looking better than anyone today from the Bangladesh line-up. He was taking his time to try and take this game (slightly) deep, he was patiently batting on 22 off 43 when Kagiso Rabada nipped one in sharply into Litton and he was hit right in front! Litton consults Mahmudullah, reviews it too, but it looked plump in real time, and replays confirm it would have hit middle and leg.

Bangladesh reeling at 58 for 5 after 15, Mehidy joins Mahmudullah.

Here comes the big question from Isam, and he's also answered it himself:

"Conceding 238 runs in 40 overs isn't exactly a poor bowling effort, but to allow 144 more runs in the last ten over is very concerning for Bangladesh. Then chasing 383 runs, they fall on 35 for three with two batters falling to catches down the leg-side. If bowling soft long-hops and leg-side half-volleys exposed the bowling attack's underbelly, the batting continues to falter against sometimes innocuous bowling. Bangladesh gave up the fight in the two most important phases of the match. It is hardly ideal for their traveling fans who are left wondering if a trip to Kolkata is worth their while."

Mushfiqur's eyes light up when he sees a rare loose kind of ball from South Africa. He wants to go after it and he does. But it's not a full-power upper cut, probably because it's not so wide and he doesn't get the width to free his arms properly. But he's into the shot and has to go for it, doesn't get the distance and finds deep third. Not a proper shot but a proper celebration from Gerald Coetzee!

Bangladesh 46 for 4 after 12, staring at a massive loss.

It was hot and sultry in the afternoon when it was raining boundaries towards the sunset time. And now that it's much more pleasant, more windy, and more people are in, the match is turning out to be one-sided on this public holiday (for The Hindu festival Dussehra) in Mumbai.

Things unraveling quickly for Bangladesh here! After Jansen's two in two, Lizaad Williams, who's in for the injured Lungi Ngidi, gets Shakib to edge one behind with some movement and Klaasen takes his toughest of the three catches tonight, diving to his left, and pouching it in font of first slip.

Bangladesh 32 for 3 after eight, deep inside on the back foot.

Marco Jansen has been bowling mainly around good length and short-of-good length so far in his first three overs and as soon as he pitches it shorter to bowl his shortest ball so far, Tanzid Tamim gloves it down the leg side while going for the pull but can't connect well at all.

Oh, hello! The next ball is also going down leg but isn't quite as aggressive as a bouncer, it's on good length, and Najmul Hossain Shanto tickles it down leg for Klaasen to dive to his right and take one more!

Bangladesh 30 for 2, it's come down to their captain again.

It's not like the South Africa quicks are breathing fire and steaming in to bowl unplayable deliveries but the Bangladesh openers - Litton and Tanzid - are taking their time to settle in. They're not really taking risks, not taking the aerial routes and settling in like they did against India in Pune, to probably hit the pedal later.

The problem today is they're chasing a massive 383 so that asking rate will shoot up very soon. Bangladesh 19 for 0 after five.

For way too long one 'C' word has been associated with South Africa, especially in World Cups, and a lot of times unfairly too. This World Cup, and in 2023, they have written up another script with the same alphabet and it's called 'carnage'. The way they are hammering centuries, breaching the 300 and 350-mark in ODIs, demolishing bowling attacks of all kinds across conditions says something about this team and today it was Bangladesh at the receiving end.

They were 238 for 3 after 40 overs and the way they have belligerently smacked the bowlers around in the last 10 for the second time in a row says a lot more. It was 143 in the last 10 against England and today it's another 144! If you combine the two? As many as 287 runs in the last 20 overs combined of their last two games.

See ya Bangladesh!

The 47th over is bowled by Mustafizur, their most experienced pace bowler and even though the margins of error are minimal on a ground like Wankhede, he sends down two full tosses which are both smoked for sixes on the leg side. And in between, when he bowled a decent back-of-length ball, Klaasen scythed it with the perfect timing to thread the gap between point and deep cover for four. 20 off the over! Klaasen century on the cards?

Meanwhile, de Kock has sliced a catch straight to deep third off Hasan Mahmud to go back for a smashing score of 174 off 140, studded with 15 fours and seven sixes. Very close to his highest ODI score (178), his 20th ODI century, third of this World Cup, and a spectacular one to help SA march to another massive 300-plus total.

The sun has faded a fair bit since the toss but it's still hot and humid out there and even though De Kock's shirt is soaked in sweat, he's relaying on one strategy to collect boundaries: hammering boundaries with his hand-eye coordination. He first lays into Shakib in the 43rd over with two fours and two sixes, the last of those over the covers being the highlight at least visually.

Next over, he unleashes back-to-back fours off Shoriful before Klaasen sends him packing over midwicket for a mighty six to bring up his fifty off 34 balls next ball.

39 runs in two overs, they've gone past 300. Six overs still to go...

And Firdose asks a pertinent question: With both Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen batting in the afternoon heat, South Africa only issue is... who will keep wicket? When de Kock scored his century against Sri Lanka in Delhi, Klaasen took the gloves while de Kock put his feet up. When Klaasen scored his century against England, he spent the fielding innings in the changeroom, wrapped in a towel. Now, with both in the middle... might David Miller be forced to don the gloves?

The sun has started to set at the Wankhede, some more crowd has started trickling in, and we have just 10 overs to go in this innings, which means one more fielder (total five) can be outside the 30-yard circle now. That may not mean much on a day like today because the conditions are good for batting and the boundaries so short that finding gaps isn't that hard.

De Kock is going strong after going past 100, although he might be exhausted in this heat (Just one over ago when three of his team-mates came out with towels, he wiped his chest, his arms, underarms, back, shoulders and even the inside of his helmet to stay as dry as possible!). And he has Klaasen at the other end, who has already been trying to go aerial a few times and on some occasions the ball has neither reached the rope nor any fielder. SA 238 for 3 after 40. Stay tuned for the death overs!

Isam chimes in with a stat: "In the four years since the 2019 World Cup, Bangladesh have conceded runs at 8.71 in the last ten overs against South Africa. It is their bowling attack's highest run rate in the third powerplay against any team."

Mohammad Isam, our Bangladesh correspondent, isn't far from me either here at Wankhede and his observations are more doom and gloom, obviously for Bangladesh:

"Bangladesh already look down and out of this contest. There were hints of flatness and timidity about their approach, and it's coming out in this Mumbai heat. They look out of sorts, at times bowling some really poor deliveries, like Nasum Ahmed's half-tracker to Heinrich Klaasen in the 35th over. It was a delivery that didn't come out of the hand properly, and dropped on the bowlers' half. The last 15 overs could spell the end of Bangladesh's World Cup campaign, or if they fight hard, they could show what they are made of."

Firdose Moonda, our SA correspondent, is right next to me here at the Wankhede press box and chimes in as soon as de Kock gets to his 20th ODI century:

"Quinton de Kock came into this World Cup with two previous tournaments under his belt and no centuries. In the space of five games, he has now scored three centuries and, in his last ODI outings, is displaying the form of his life. De Kock's opening hundred against Sri Lanka came alongside two others, his next against Australia was against an out of sorts attack and today's was a counterattack, with the loss of two early wickets. South Africa's batting has not been tested much in this tournament - apart from when chasing against Netherlands - and so we could argue that the most pressure they were put under batting first was going two down early against a Bangladesh attack that did not offer much width upfront. He rebuilt well with Aiden Markram and has now put South Africa in a good position to allow their middle order to post another skyscraping total. Before the tournament, Temba Bavuma said de Kock was unburdened because of his decision to retire from the format and that is what we are seeing now."

Who else but the talismanic captain brings some relied for his team. Just after the 30th over, Markram probably senses another opportunity to collect a boundary and he wants to dispatch the ball with Shakib's left-arm spin to the covers. But he doesn't reach the pitch of the ball when he tries to take the aerial route, ends up driving well away from his body and only lobs a simple catch to Litton Das at long-off. Bangladesh's fielding has not been at its best today, so even a straightforward catch is also a reason for a sigh of relief.

De Kock meanwhile is in his 90s. SA 169 for 3 after 31.

Probably sensing that they'd want to score around 350 (or more?) by the end of the innings, SA look at their score at the halfway mark and it's 131 for 2. You don't have to worry about de Kock's strike rate on a day like this, so Markram, the slower of the two, collects two fours on the off side off Mehidy and gets to his fifty off 57 balls.

South Africa's run rate is approaching 5.50 an over and these two are well set for a lift off later on. Can Bangladesh break through in these uneventful middle overs?

The Bangladesh spinners have been tidy today and Shakib makes a smart move to bring on Mahmudullah's offbreaks after that economical first spell from Mehidy. Mahmudullah concedes just one in his first over and as soon as SA's scoring rate dips below five an over, de Kock unleashes a stunning reverse sweep with such a powerful swing that the ball flies over the deep third boundary for a clean six!

Quinton de Kock is not having a bad World Cup, is he? Two hundreds to start off the tournament and now a 47-ball fifty when two wickets have fallen at the other end in what's not SA's quickest start.

Using his strong bottom hand, he has cut fiercely, he has stepped down fearlessly against the spinners to collect two sixes, he unleashed a spectacular pick-up pull shot against Hasan Mahmud and he's smashing his way to another big knock. He has looked so solid today, his control% is as much as 94% right now.

South Africa 92 for 2 after 18 and it's the first drinks break of the day.

He opened the bowling, he kept it fairly tight and flat from his end while the left-arm quicks operated from the other end in the first powerplay with just two fielders in the deep. For the right-hand batters he mainly targeted the line around off stump on good length with some fuller deliveries and to de Kock he probably he erred a bit too much on the fuller side.

De Kock vs Mehidy today: 15 off 20 balls, 11 dots, one six and a SR of 75. Apart from that straight six early on, de Kock was primarily cautious against Mehidy while using his straight bat to play shots in the V down the ground.

Mehidy's first spell: 7-0-25-1.

Mehidy nearly had Hendricks earlier, and now he's dismissed RvDD with his zippy offbreak! Like Shoriful he targets the stumps for which the batter goes across and plays across the line, misses it completely and is trapped right in front! Immediate and confident appeal from Mehidy and Mushfiqur and Rassie decides not to review it.

SA 36 for 2 after eight overs. And look at Mehidy's record vs SA in ODIs: 10 wickets in six games, average 26.30 and ER 5.47.

It's hot out there! Some drinks were brought out quickly after five overs for the batters and all my sympathies go out for the Bangladesh bowlers and fielders out there. But look at Shoriful, brought on in place of Mustafizur after just two overs, and he steams in to knock over Hendricks' middle and off stumps with an accurate inswinger.

Bangladesh will need wickets more than anything, such as a few economical overs today, because on this ground in this format, there's always enough time to make up for some quiet overs and put up a massive score in the end. Rassie van der Dussen at No. 3 and SA are 35 for 1 after 7.

Mehidy may have primarily been brought on for de Kock, but he bowled his entire first over to Hendricks and nearly got him out too! After a string of four dot balls, Mehidy pitched one shorter for which Hendricks, on 0, went back for a cut and ended up outside edging it straight to first slip where Tanzid Hasan Tamim let it through his hands!

SA could have been 6 for 1 but are 9 for 0 after two.

It's a milestone day for Quinton de Kock, playing his last ODI series, and he has already struck two centuries this World Cup. There is a match-up for him early on, though, with his record against offspin since 2020: seven dismissals in 18 innings while averaging 32.42.

No wonder Shakib gives the second new ball to offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Mehidy has already dismissed de Kock twice in four innings.

That's a massive boost for Bangladesh, having their regular captain and star allrounder back in the team. Who else but Shakib was the Player of the Match the last time these two teams met in an ODI World Cup game.

SA lost the toss the last time but they've won it today and Markram has no doubts in opting to bat. He cites the heat, the willingness to replicate what they did against England a few days ago. One forced change for them: Ngidi has a knee niggle and misses out for Lizaad Williams.

Shakib says he's "fully fit" and comes in for Towhid Hridoy. He says he doesn't mind bowling first!

Statement from CSA: Temba Bavuma has not fully recovered from the gastric illness that ruled him out of the match against England. As a precautionary measure, he is also ruled out of today’s match against Bangladesh. Aiden Markram will captain the side. Lungi Ngidi has a mild knee niggle and was not considered for selection for today’s match.

Of life are that Bavuma is out in the middle doing some work with the bowlers on the practice pitch under the scorching sun. It's an unforgiving 34 degrees C, quite hazy because the AQI in Colaba (barely a 10-minute drive from Wankhede) reads around 239 (which is 'poor') and this one South African just had a look at the pitch but he's wearing a Bangladesh jersey! Oh, it's Allan Donald. Given the heat and humidity, and how SA trounced England a few days ago, I totally expect the team winning the toss to bat first.