Mashrafe Mortaza disappointed with Bangladesh bowling after loss to South Africa

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has expressed his disappointment in his bowlers after the visiting side was condemned to a 10-wicket beating at the hands of South Africa in the first ODI at Kimberley. (South Africa vs Bangladesh, 1st ODI full cricket score)

The Proteas managed to chase down Bangladesh’s target of 279 in just 42.5 overs, with Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla schooling the Bangladeshi bowlers to record the highest successful chase in ODIs by a team without losing a wicket.

“I think they (SA) would have chased the total regardless, but we should have taken at least five or six wickets in the process. It may have put them under some pressure, but our bowling was just disappointing. It will be hard for us to do well if we keep bowling this way,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted Mortaza as saying.

READ | Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock stand powers South Africa to record win vs Bangladesh

Despite their vanquishment, Mortaza still believes that his team can still get something out of the next two games but not without a fight.

“We have a chance to make a comeback in the next two games. It is only natural to have a lot of talk around us but the players have to fight. We will do everything possible. The result is not coming in our favour which makes it hard to keep the positive mentality,” said Mortaza.

De Kock hit debutant Mohammad Saifuddin for seven fours and got four boundaries off Rubel Hossain. Shakib Al Hasan, possibly Bangladesh’s best bowler too could only bowl 15 dot balls and ended up conceding 48 runs from his eight overs.

The Bangladesh bowlers were no better in the preceding Test series, having conceded 1316 runs in the three Test innings and picking up only 13 wickets.

In fact, South Africa’s rampant performance at the expense of the Bangladeshi bowlers in Kimberley even prompted South African captain Faf du Plessis to admit that his team felt “a little sorry of the Bangladesh bowlers.”

“We’re playing really well. Another dominating performance - that’s what we asked for and they delivered. We’re feeling a little sorry for the Bangladesh bowlers, they’ve had a hard tour, but that’s what being ruthless is about,” Independent Online quoted Du Plessis as saying.

Du Plessis also admitted that the pitch did may not have done the visiting team any favours, making it easier to get run in the second innings.

“I thought the pitch was a little slow in the first innings, maybe the heavy roller made it better to bat on in the second innings. It was mostly to do with the wind - you try and eliminate one side of the field [bowling slower bouncers],” the skipper said.

And Bangladesh’s tormentor-in-chief on the day, Quinton de Kock concurred with his captain in terms of the wicket and praised Bangladesh’s performance with the bat.

“We thought it was going to be a really good batting wicket, but that is until we started bowling and realised there was something in it. As the game went on the wicket got a lot flatter. That’s just the nature of the Kimberly wicket; it gets better in the afternoon. Any movement in the wicket was gone after the first 10 overs in the morning. It was hard work for the bowlers afterwards,” De Kock told reporters.

“I thought they (Bangladesh) batted really well actually, given the conditions. They summed it up quite well.”

On their record breaking partnership, De Kock said that he and Amla walked onto the pitch solely intending to get South Africa closer to the target and that chasing down the total between them was a natural occurrence.

“We never really thought about it. We just went out there trying to bat and get the team close. But as it happened, we naturally went on to finish the game off between the two of us. It was just instinct that kicked in and that’s all,” said De Kock.