Flawless victory for SA

For a practice match, it was quite impressive how quickly the Khan Saheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah filled up ahead of the clash between the BCB XI and South Africans yesterday.

Nearly three quarters of the stadium were full by the time Imrul Kayes had won the toss and opted to bat. The free entry policy did cause some tension at the start, with the incoming crowd breaking a few barricades within the stadium.

However, if those present at the stadium were hoping for a repeat of the spectacular result that a BCB side had managed in a practice match against Pakistan in April at the same venue -- a one wicket win -- then they were in for a wild shock.

A struggling BCB XI, which included two players from Bangladesh's T20I squad for the South Africa series, were brushed aside by the South Africans' young bowling attack, being bundled out for just 99 runs in 18 overs.

In reply, the visitors romped to a flawless ten-wicket win with eight overs to spare and in a way indicated to the hosts that this series could well be Bangladesh's most difficult of the year.

The visitors' dominance was evident from the fact that their openers Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers were asked to retire in the seventh over, after putting on 64 runs. The pair smacked ten boundaries.

JP Duminy and David Miller, who came in next, ambled through to the target and barely broke a sweat.

The game ended in style as Miller hammered Razzak straight down the ground for a huge six.

Earlier, the hosts were under pressure from the word go as pacer Kyle Abbot removed both Anamul Haque and Rony Talukdar in the third over. The batsmen were beaten by pace as the bowler managed to go past both their defences.

Captain Imrul was the only Bangladeshi batsman who looked a bit threatening. He hit three fours in his 24-ball 29 and was the only player who looked capable of going against South Africans' attack. However, once he perished in the eleventh over, the middle order collapsed.

He was dismissed courtesy of a brilliant catch. Imrul had launched David Weise towards long-on. The fielder, running back, managed to catch the ball on the edge of the boundary, but was in danger of falling on the boundary rope. That's when he threw the ball up in the air for the deep mid-wicket fielder, who had by then run in to support the fielder at long on.

Skipper Faf du Plessis used nine bowlers in the match and it was a move that shed light on some of the newer players the visitors have in store.

Leg-spinner Eddie Leie, who flummoxed Mosaddek Hossain with a googly, was one of them. 30-year-old pacer David Wiese, who featured against Australia last year, was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 13 in three overs.

Scores in brief
BCB XI: 99 all out in 18 overs (Imrul 29; Wiese 3-13, Abbott 2-2)
SOUTH AFRICANS: 101 for no loss in 12 overs (de Kock 35 retired, de Villiers 25 retired)
Result: South Africans won by ten wickets.