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Durban - The Bangladesh Under-19s concluded their dominant Youth One-Day International series against South Africa Under-19 with a convincing 22-run victory at Kingsmead on Sunday.
The visitors finished the seven-match series with a commanding 5-2 advantage.
The Junior Tigers, as they are known back home, once again posted a formidable total, thanks to solid batting contributions by Joyraz Sheik, Saif Hassan and Zakir Hasan, who scored 90, 45 and 42 runs respectively.
Their 266/6 was once again helped along by 24 runs in extras conceded by the hosts.
The Bangladesh top order’s ability to form three big partnerships served them in good stead, allowing them to set a solid base for the middle order to bat without fear, adding 61 runs in the final 10 overs alone.
Wiaan Mulder and SA captain on the day, Willie Ludick, were the only bowlers who took wickets, returning figures of 2/46 and 2/60 respectively.
Tony De Zorzi was ruled out of the match after he was hit by a ball in the face in the sixth match at Chatsworth.
South Africa’s response was once again off to a shaky start when they lost opener, Matthew Breetzke, for a duck off the final delivery of the first over of their innings. He was followed by Rivaldo Moonsamy, who was dismissed by Mohammad Saifuddin for 10 in the eighth over.
Liam Smith put his hand up once again, sharing a 47-run, third wicket partnership and a 56-run partnership for the fourth with Mulder (15) and Lesego Senokwane (22) respectively, but he once again could not convert his well-played 89 runs into a potentially match-saving ton.
Dayyaan Galiem was the other stand-out batsman for the young Proteas, smashing 65 runs at a run a ball, and sharing a 52-run, eighth-wicket stand with Sean Whitehead (24 off 18 balls) to get South Africa within a sniff of victory.
They both lost their wickets in the 48th over however, with their side still needing 23 runs to win.
Conor McKerr could only add a single to the scorecard before South Africa lost their last wicket (Lutho Sipamla for a duck).
Bangladesh won with four balls to spare.
“Again today we bowled too many extras and again we seem to be struggling to get our disciplines right,” said SA Under-19s coach, Lawrence Mahatlane.
“We sit in a position where a lot of schoolboy thinking still takes place and a lot of pre-meditation that gets us out at crucial times, when we should be enforcing our lessons.”
Negatives aside, he still has hope for the future of his team.
“I’m quietly excited about the prospects of a lot of these young players,” he continued. “I believe that a lot of them can take lessons learnt forward if they follow our processes.”
