South Africa continue to bludgeon all before their path when they bat first, and it doesn’t seem to matter who’s in the way. This time, it was Bangladesh who were the unfortunate victims, with South Africa putting them to the sword in a 149-run demolition. It was led by an enormous contribution from Quinton de Kock, whose 140-ball 174 powered South Africa to 382. At the death, to help him along, he had Heinrich Klaasen, who smashed 90 off 49 balls as South Africa racked up 144 in the final 10 overs. Bangladesh were never in the chase in response and, as with every other game of South Africa’s in this tournament, all five bowlers chipped in with wickets.

South Africa opted to bat first and to begin things weren’t as straightforward as the final scorecard might suggest. Bangladesh kept a lid on de Kock and Reeza Hendricks initially, and drew early blood when Shoriful Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz got rid of Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen cheaply. By the end of the eighth over, South Africa were wobbling mildly at 36 for 2, and there was little sign this pitch would be conducive to the runfest that followed.

But Aiden Markram and de Kock are arguably the two most in-form batters this tournament and, together, they began to gradually shut Bangladesh out of the contest. The spinners were milked down the ground as Bangladesh’s ability – and appetite – for wicket-taking receded. The holding pattern benefitted South Africa, given their power lower down the order, and soon enough, the boundaries began to flow. The hundred came up in the 21th over, the 100-partnership in the 26th. By now de Kock was closing in on his own hundred, while Markram had brought up a half-century.

Brief scores:
South Africa 382/5 in 50 overs (Quinton de Kock 174, Heinrich Klaasen 90, Aiden Markram 60, David Miller 34*; Hasan Mahmud 2-67) beat Bangladesh 233 in 46.4 overs (Litton Das 22, Mahmudullah 111; Marco Jansen 2-39, Lizaad Willams 2-56, Gerald Coetzee 2-62, Kagiso Rabada 2-52) by 149 runs

(Cricinfo)