Levi stars in South Africa Academy win

South Africa Academy 211 for 9 (Levi 72, Wiese 38, Delwar Hossain 3-46) beat Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy 193 for 8 (Ayub 69, Farhad Hossain 64, Wiese 3-31) by three wickets
Scorecard

Richard Levi's 72 of 88 balls helped the South Africa Academy beat the Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy by 18 runs in the first of three one-dayers played on Wednesday. Levi's knock, which comprised eight fours and two sixes, helped to steer South Africa to 211 for 9 in 45 overs, which proved enough as the visitors managed only 193 for 8.

Batting first, the South Africa Academy had a shaky start, losing opener Rushdi Jappie for five in the sixth over, with the score on 31, and No. 3 Roelof van der Merwe for 0. However, a 56-run stand for the fourth wicket between Levi and Reeza Hendricks saw the team recover to 120 for 4.

With Levi getting run out and Hendricks falling for 31 soon after, it was up to Stiaan van Zyl and David Wiese to make a useful contributions. A 54-run sixth wicket stand between the two ensured South Africa Academy reached a competitive total. Delwar Hossain, playing his first game of the tour, bagged 3 for 46 in his nine overs and Ziaur Rahman took 2 for 27.

Needing 212 to win, Bangladesh lost their openers early and were in serious trouble at 55 for 5 in the 17th over. However a 120-run sixth-wicket stand between Marshall Ayub (69) and Farhad Hossain (64) gave the visitors some hope, but it did not trouble the home team in the end.

David Wiese was the pick of the South Africa Academy bowlers with 3 for 31 from his nine overs. Mthokozisi Shezi ended up with 2 for 46 in nine overs, while Mondli Mahlombe and Roelof van der Merwe finished with one scalp each.

The next match is at the LC de Villiers Oval in Pretoria on Friday.