Rilee Rossouw yesterday posted the first century of the T20 World Cup tournament, plundering 109 from 56 deliveries to help South Africa to an emphatic 104-run win over Bangladesh.
After a couple of early delays for rain, South Africa batted first and posted 205-5. Rossouw and Quinton de Kock combined for 163 runs off 81 balls for the second wicket in a South Africa record T20 World Cup partnership.
The Proteas then skittled Bangladesh for 101, with Anrich Nortje picking up 4-10 and Tabraiz Shamsi returning 3-20.
Photo: AP
“Clinical in terms of performance,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “The batting lineup has shaped up quite nicely.”
While Rossouw and De Kock were batting a total well in excess of 200 looked likely, but South Africa’s innings stalled near the end.
Moreover, they benefitted from five penalty runs awarded because Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan moved from his position on a free hit.
Photo: AFP
Rossouw struck seven fours and eight sixes, raising his century off only 52 balls.
De Kock scored 50 off 33 balls and was eventually out for 63 off 38, with seven fours and three sixes.
South Africa’s hectic pace of scoring meant they were 170-2 in 14.3 overs at De Kock’s dismissal, but from there they lost four wickets for 35 runs.
Bangladesh got off to a quickfire start via Soumya Sarkar (15) and Najmul Shanto (9), who added 26 off 13 balls, but things went downhill thereafter.
Nortje removed both openers in his first over, the third of the innings, and Bangladesh were reduced to 47-4 at the end of powerplay.
He also trapped Shakib Al Hasan (1) LBW to give South Africa control of the match.
Only four Bangladesh batsmen reached double figures, with Liton Das top scoring with 34.
Shakib said that Rossouw and De Kock took the game away from his bowlers.
South Africa (3 points) moved to the top of Group 2 temporarily with three points from two games.
Their first super 12 game against Zimbabwe in Hobart was washed out.
However, India (4 points) beat the Netherlands by 56 runs in yesterday’s second match at the Sydney Cricket Ground to retake top spot.
Bavuma said he was initially “a bit nervous” when the rain started again yesterday and played was halted after 5.3 overs, with South Africa on 65-1, but the match resumed after a 30-minute delay and no overs were lost.
Virat Kohli smashed a second successive half-century as India thrashed the Netherlands.
India headed into the clash on the back of their thrilling last-ball triumph over Pakistan in Melbourne at the weekend, in which Kohli also starred with the bat.
They brought some of that energy to a boisterous Sydney Cricket Ground to plunder 179-2 before holding the spirited Netherlands to 123-9 in front of 36,000 fans.
Kohli (62 not out) and skipper Rohit Sharma (53) were both in fine touch, sharing in a 73-run stand.
Suryakumar Yadav was also in the runs, lashing 51 from 25 balls.
In other Group B action yesterday, Pakistan failed chasing Zimbabwe’s 130-8 in Perth. The match finished right on press time last night, Pakistan making 129-8.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS