The 3rd ODI between Bangladesh and South Africa is a perfect example of a David versus Goliath type of battle. Those who watched it on television and ground were the lucky ones. It was because Bangladesh re-wrote history on Wednesday when they crushed the mighty South Africans at Dhaka by 9 wickets in hand. With this victory, upbeat Bengal tigers won the ODI trophy against the Proteas. This is the fourth successive series win for them at home and full credit goes to their never-say-die attitude. Historically, this is the first time that Bangladesh won a ODI series against South Africa.

Soumya Sarkar hammered all the South African bowlers.

India faced a severe criticism back home when then conceded series loss to Bangladesh in Dhaka last month. But, people failed to realize the fact that the Bengali team is at its peak now. And you can’t challenge them at their own backyard. South Africa was their latest victim. Proteas were not only compelled to surrender at just 168 in 40-overs, but also their top-order batsmen were dismissed at cheap scores.

Thanks to Duminy (51) and Miller (44) who showed some resistance at the lower order or else South Africa would have registered their lowest total in One-dayers. Shakib Al Hasan (8-0-33-3) produced some amazing deliveries and picked the important wickets of Amla and Faf Du Plessis at the start of the match to give a mighty blow to Proteas batting order. The rest of the Bangladeshi bowlers supported him well and didn’t bowl too many loose balls to keep the visitors under pressure.

Chasing a target of mere 169, hosts looked comfortable throughout the match. Both the openers, Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar ensured a comfortable victory for the team. They added 154 for the first wicket and that was more than enough to reach to the target without any hassle with lots of overs to spare. Tamim Iqbal 61* (77b, 4s x 7) and Soumya Sarkar 90 (75b, 4s x 13, 6s x 1) easily handled the likes of Kyle Abott, Rabada and Morne Morkel with no troubles. All these bowlers gave away around 5-7 runs-per-over without any wickets, and made the target easily achievable for hosts. Bangladesh (170/1) won the match by 9 wickets at 26.1 overs.

Bangladeshi opener Soumya Sarkar was declared man-of-the-match for his fine knock of 90. He was also awarded Man-of-the-series for amassing 205 runs in the 3-ODI-Match-series. At the end of the day you might ask how Bangladesh did it, but this is why they are called Bengal tigers, when they roar, they can upset any team in the world even the best ones too at any time of the year.

Tags: 3rd ODI, Bangladesh, Dhaka, ODI Match, ODI Series, Proteas, Soumya Sarkar, South Africa