Bangladesh players leave the field at the end play after losing the match against South Africa.—AP Dawn.Com
NEW DELHI: Hapless Bangladesh were sent crashing out of the World Cup on Saturday by merciless South Africa, with their humiliating 206-run defeat sending India, England and West Indies into the quarter-finals.
Bangladesh, chasing 285 to win, were bowled out for a paltry 78 in the 28th over, the ninth lowest World Cup total of all time and third lowest at the 2011 event, with only skipper Shakib Al Hasan (30) getting to double figures.
The Tigers, who had high hopes of making the last eight after playing all their Group B matches in favourable home conditions, finished on six points, the same as West Indies, who have a vastly superior run-rate.South Africa, with 10 points, finished top of the pool, with India and England on seven points.Only a mathematical miracle in the India-West Indies match on Sunday would throw Bangladesh an unlikely lifeline.
“Sorry,” was Shakib’s message to the millions of fans in the country who had expected better from a team who had even been bowled out for just 58 by the West Indies earlier in the tournament.
“We missed a big opportunity because we have been performing for the last 12 months and we thought we would have a very good opportunity to qualify for the second round.”
Lonwabo Tsotsobe grabbed 3-14 on his World Cup debut and spinner Robin Peterson claimed 4-12 to star with the ball after Jacques Kallis had made 69 and Faf du Plessis hit a run-a-ball 52 to lift South Africa to 284-8.
Hashim Amla (51) and skipper Graeme Smith (45) were also in the runs.Tsotsobe, who was given a chance only because pace spearheads Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were rested ahead of the bigger matches, seized the opportunity in style.The 27-year-old left-arm seamer silenced a sell-out crowd of 25,000 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium when he had Bangladesh’s main batting hope,
Tamim Iqbal, caught behind for five in his second over and the home side never recovered.
“We gave a few guys an extra couple of days to rest but it was fantastic to see other guys that came in, the motivation they had and the way they performed. That’s always exciting to see,” said Smith.
No comments:
Post a Comment