It’s not often in a men’s Cricket World Cup game that a Proteas team win a match they could have easily lost, but that was exactly the case when South Africa edged out Bangladesh in New York on Monday evening.
Though South Africa recovered well, they posted a modest total of 113/6 after they won the toss and skipper Aiden Markram chose to bat first in their T20 World Cup Group D clash.
Reduced to 23/4 in the fifth over, Heinrich Klaasen (46) and David Miller (29) joined forces to put on a crucial 79-run fifth wicket partnership to see South Africa manage a total in three figures.
Markram said after the match: “We're putting Klaasen and Miller under pressure but they've been exceptional. They've gone back-to-back with crucial partnerships, got us to a score that's luckily enough to win but still one we could defend. Fantastic for Klaasy to get back in form.”
In response, Bangladesh were cruising as they had reached 94/4 after 17 overs. That meant they needed 20 runs from 18 balls to win with Towhid Hridoy (37) and Mahmudullah (20) ready to launch Bangladesh over the final hurdle.
WD 1️⃣ 2️⃣ 𝐖 1️⃣lb 𝐖 1️⃣
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 10, 2024
That over had us on the edge, Aiden’s catch sent us over the edge 😅#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/HlR9ESd8gT
Crucial Rabada strike
It was then that Kagiso Rabada (2/19) struck, and after Markram had bowled out his quicks with just the final over remaining, it was up to spinner Keshav Maharaj (3/27) to see his side over the line with Bangladesh needing 11 for victory from six balls with five wickets remaining.
While Maharaj was commended in some corners for ‘holding his nerve’ the two wickets he bagged in the final over were from full tosses, and Markram acknowledged his side were fortunate in the aftermath of their victory.
Markram said: “You're always pretty nervous in the final over in a game like that. It was always on a knife's edge, it can make you mentally tired.
“It’s always nice to be in them though. Sometimes you get on the right side, sometimes not, but it's very entertaining.”
Referring to the penultimate ball of the match which ended with Mahmudullah being caught well by a running Markram on the long on boundary, the captain said it could have easily turned out differently.
“It [full toss] could've gone anywhere, could've gone two more metres further and we'd have had a different conversation.
“Like I mentioned, a few things went our way today, very fortunate on that to get on the right side.”
It’s unlikely that Maharaj will be tasked with bowling the final over in an innings again, but Markram did not rule out the possibility.
"Depends on the situation, you want to drag the game as long as you can, so you use quicks to attack. Today was one of those days where the seamers were bowling well, we wanted to drag it to the end where anything could happen in the last over.”