South Africa held off Bangladesh to maintain their perfect record at the T20 World Cup on Monday, defending a target of 113 in a thrilling finish in Long Island. (As It Happened| Full Coverage)
The Proteas, who had made a flawless start to their Group D campaign with successful chases against Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, looked to be up against it after a dire start to their third outing.
Bangladesh's Tanzim Hasan Sakib needed just five overs to clinch a hat-trick as Reeza Hendricks went lbw for a first-ball duck, then Quinton de Kock (18) and Tristan Stubbs (0) followed, the latter chipping straight to Shakib Al Hasan at short cover.
Heinrich Klaasen stopped the rot, but his knock of 46 came off 44 deliveries as Bangladesh bowled efficiently, and another low-scoring affair was guaranteed when he was bamboozled by Taskin Ahmed's seam ball 18 overs in.
Bangladesh's chase got off to an inauspicious start as Kagiso Rabada had Tanzid Hasan (9) caught inside two overs, later joining Anrich Nortje on two wickets when an umpire's review showed he clipped leg stump to end Towhid Hridoy's stand of 37.
That knock had left Bangladesh requiring 18 off 12 balls in front of a fervent crowd, but like Pakistan versus India one day earlier, they were unable to get over the line.
Proteas captain Aiden Markram was in the right place at the right time on two occasions, catching desperate attempts for a maximum from both Jaker Ali (8) and Mahmudullah (20) right on the boundary to seal South Africa's victory.
Data Debrief: Proteas do enough... just
South Africa have still never lost a T20I versus Bangladesh in nine meetings, but they put themselves in real bother with some slow scoring in their innings.
However, the efforts of Rabada (2-19), Nortje (2-17) and Keshav Maharaj (3-27) were enough, the latter's bowling handing Markram two catches as Bangladesh were forced to hit big in the dying moments.
The Proteas remain top of Group D with maximum points from three games, with Bangladesh now having one win and one defeat.
