Proteas charge to record-breaking victory in Kimberley
Records tumbled in Kimberley on Sunday as South Africa chased down their 279-run target without losing a wicket to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match one-day international series.
Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock completed the highest run chase without losing a wicket as Bangladesh's biggest score against South Africa was swatted away with 43 balls to spare.
Mushfiqur Rahim had given the tourists a glimmer of hope with a fine century of his own earlier in the day, but he was the only man to get past 31Â and that ultimately cost Bangladesh.
The target of 279 quickly came into view as the opening pair confidently took apart the tourists' attack, De Kock (168 not out) and Amla (110 not out) racking up the highest South Africa partnership for any wicket in the process.
Victory came with seven overs remaining, De Kock smashing two boundaries off Mashrafe Mortaza to take South Africa to 282-0, sealing the win.
<script></script>- Highest ODI partnership for SA
— ICC (@ICC) October 15, 2017
- Highest ODI chase without losing a wicket
Quinton De Kock & Hashim Amla, take a bow pic.twitter.com/5L2RaZMRrk
Bangladesh made a solid start having won the toss with Imrul Kayes (31), Liton Das (21) and Shakib Al Hasan all making good progress at the top of the order.
Shakib's 29 off 45 balls saw him reach 5,000 ODI runs, only the second Bangladesh international to achieve the feat after Tamim Iqbal.
It was Mushfiqur's performance at number four that stood out, though, as he anchored the innings with a superb century off 109 balls – his fifth in the 50-over format.
However, he lacked a long-term partner to help push the score beyond 300 as only Kayes got past 30 of the other seven batsmen.
Some late blows from Mohammad Saifuddin (16) and Nasir Hossain (11) took Bangladesh to their highest ODI score against the Proteas, but 278-7 was still well short of testing the home side.
<script></script>.@Sah75official became the second Bangladesh batsman after @TamimOfficial28 to score 5000 runs in ODI. pic.twitter.com/iJ9uDKCg7k
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) October 15, 2017
After just 17 overs, De Kock and Amla had brought up the 100 and the pair duly powered their way towards individual centuries.
De Kock got there first – his 13th ODI hundred – with a beautifully executed cut shot behind point, while the patient Amla joined him nine overs later at almost a run a ball.
South Africa's record run chase nearly failed to materialise as De Kock was dropped on the boundary by Nasir, but he quickly put that behind him to take himself to 21 boundaries and a comprehensive triumph.
<script></script>Excellent victory by 10 wickets for the boys! What a knock by these champions! #ProteaFire #SAvBAN pic.twitter.com/4L5SX79uLY
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) October 15, 2017
