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Cape Town - Eddie Leie returned the Proteas best ever figures on debut, taking 3/16 in 3 overs, as the South Africans completed a 2-0 series win over Bangladesh by winning the second T20 International at Mirpur on Tuesday.
As it happened: Proteas claim series win
It was a significant day for South African spin bowling under admittedly helpful conditions as Lee and Aaron Phangiso took six wickets between them to outclass their Bangladesh counterparts and outwit the home team’s tactical plan.
The Proteas’ winning margin was a convincing 31 runs and in many ways this game was replica of the first one with the Proteas total of 169/4 after again winning the toss being way beyond the capabilities of the Bangladesh batting order.
Bangladesh once again matched the Proteas in the power play, scoring 52/1 compared to the 51/0 added by Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers.
Thereafter the Proteas went through their only dip when they lost three wickets, including both De Kock and De Villiers who had shared a partnership of 95 in only 10 overs, in just 7 balls. It required a bit of rebuilding from Faf du Plessis and David Miller before Miller and Rilee Rossouw accelerated at the end to set a competitive total.
Rossouw again impressed with his clean hitting under difficult conditions and his innings of 19 not out off just 6 balls made the difference between a target of 150 and one of 170.
The Bangladesh batsmen gave little impression of having a game plan to take on the South African spinners and the outfielders were kept busy taking a succession of comfortable catches. They lost six wickets for 48 runs in 8 overs.
Kyle Abbott became the third bowler to take three wickets in the innings, cleaning up the tail with a succession of well-directed, blockhole deliveries that knocked over the stumps. It was probably the best performance of this skill since the days of the current Proteas seam bowling coach, Charl Langeveldt.
Leie’s figures were the best on debut for the Proteas, surpassing Alfonso Thomas’ 3/25 against Pakistan. He also picked up the Man of the Match award and with it a cheque for $1 000.
Faf du Plessis was named Man of the Series.
The attention now switches to the three-match ODI series, starting on Friday.
