Highlights - Ban vs SA - South Africa snatch thriller

OH. MY. WORD.

Keshav Maharaj, bowling the last over for the first time in a T20I defended 10 runs, and Aiden Markram, on a day when South Africa's outfielding was poor, took a stunning running catch at long-on to deny Bangladesh a famous win. Bangladesh have never beaten South Africa in a T20I and would not have come closer than this. They were 94 for 4 at the end of 17 overs and needed 20 runs off 18 balls but could not get the death bowling away. And they should have. Maharaj's last over included three full tosses but Bangladesh could not capitalise. Instead, Mahmudullah was out to a running-jumping catch by Aiden Markram, and South Africa snuck a four-run win.

That's it for them in the USA, with three wins from three games. They head to Saint Vincent to play Nepal and are in pole position to claim their spot in the Super Sixes. Bangladesh still have Nepal and Netherlands to play so there's opportunity for them to go through as well.

So often, this is the one that changes the game and Ottneil Baartman, known for his ability with the new and the old ball, has held his line to leave 10 to defend in the last over. South Africa have only given away nine in the last two overs, and no boundaries.

Remember that Bangladesh only conceded 13 runs in the final three overs to keep South Africa to 113. South Africa have so far conceded just two in the 18th.

He was out there doing the things for Bangladesh and shared in a 44-run fifth-wicket partnership with Mahmudullah - and take a look at the 2024 Towhid Hridoy has had. He averages 42.30 in T20Is this year. And he'll consider himself very unlikely to be given out lbw on umpire's call with Bangladesh 20 runs away.

Anrich Nortje, who got up to speeds of 146 kph today but also varied his pace, has finished his quota of four overs with figures of 2 for 17. He is one away from becoming the joint leading wicket-taker at the tournament and two from catching Dale Steyn as the South African with the most wickets in T20 World Cups.

Marco Jansen's final over cost eight runs which has left Bangladesh with 31 to get off 30 balls. For comparison, Pakistan were 83 for 4 after 15 overs yesterday.

Anrich Nortje was denied the wicket that would have made him the joint leading wicket-taker at the tournament so far when Marco Jansen put down Mahmudullah at slip. Mahmudullah was on 5 when he tried to guide a Nortje delivery over third and got it head height at Jansen, who got fingers to it but then could not hold on and the ball went for four. Nortje is on eight wickets for the tournament so far, one behind Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi.

The crowd, meanwhile, is a sea of green and all cheering for Bangladesh.

We're into the final quarter of the match and things are looking a little similar to what we saw yesterday in the India-Pakistan game. Chasing 120, Pakistan were 57 for 1 after ten overs and though they just about doubled their score in the next ten, went on to lose six wickets. India has Jasprit Bumrah, who presents an entirely different challenge to any of the South African attack, but with Anrich Nortje breathing fire and Ottneil Baartman still having three overs in the bank, things could get verrrrrry interesting.

Litton Das could not gifted David Miller a better birthday present than hitting the ball straight to him at extra cover. Keshav Maharaj was brought on immediately after the Powerplay, tossed the first ball up and Litton played it straight to Miller to gift South Africa a second wicket. Miller, of course, was put down on 13 by Litton. Must be his lucky day.

While Bangladesh have their top-order woes, Najmul Hossain Shanto has managed more than he did against Sri Lanka, has entered double figures and appears proactive in his approach to this chase.

Here's a look at Bangladesh's top run-scorers in T20Is in 2024. Shanto is in third place and still going while Towhid Hridroy, who leads the charts, is yet to come in.

Tanzid Hasan hit Kagiso Rabada through cover and over point and it looked as though Bangladesh were taking control of the early exchanges. Rabada has not been at his best at the tournament so far, but he got his own back when Tanzid threw his bat at the last ball of the over and got a top-edge as he tried to hit over third. He wasn't sure he'd hit it but Shanto told him he had and UltraEdge confirmed the contact.

We've looked at South Africa's top three, who have scored only 61 runs in nine trips to the crease between them. Bangladesh have not fared much better and their top three have managed 39 runs albeit it only in three innings. How will they go this time?

Meanwhile have a listen to what the experts say on ESPNcricinfo Timeout:

Bangladesh gave away only 13 runs in the last three overs of South Africa's innings and will be relatively pleased with their efforts in the field even though it will require them to complete the highest successful chase at this venue to win. In most other places, a target of 114 would be a doddle but the pitches at Eisenhower Park are not showing signs of getting easier to bat on and South Africa's seamers have been excellent so far. Two points, and a chance to take a share of the control in this group, are up for grabs. Stay with us for what should be a fascinating chase.

The South African middle-order pair have gone past the Canada's fifth-wicket stand of 75 between Nicholas Kirtin and Shreyas Movva and now hold the record for the highest stand at Eisenhower Park. It ended on 79, when Klaasen was bowled by Taskin Ahmed by another ball that kept slightly low. It is also South Africa's highest fifth-wicket stand in T20Is.

The end of a very good four overs for Tanzim Hasan, who's first three balls cost 10 runs. He only conceded eight more runs and picked up the wickets of Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs. He bowled 12 dot balls in his four overs. Not only is this Tanzim's career-best but also the best figures by a Bangladesh seamer against South Africa and the second-best overall.

Just five fifty-run stands in what is now the sixth match at Eisenhower Park.

South Africa have two of them, including this one between Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller.

David Miller should have been caught off Mahmudullah's first ball for 13 but Littonm, right up at the stumps, did not have enough time to react. That could prove costly but for now, Bangladesh are keeping a lid on it. No boundaries in the 11th and 12th over.

After losing four wickets insider five overs for the fifth time in men's T20Is, South Africa are recovering. Heinrich Klaasen has got going with back to back sixes off Rishad's second over and a lesson that any tiny error in length will be pounced on. Rishad went full and Klaasen hit him 91 metres straight down the ground; Rishad went slightly shorter, and Klaasen waited for it and pulled to the longer boundary.

So that's the Powerplay done and South Africa are in some trouble at 25 for 4. But David Miller, their hero from the Dutch game, is in the middle and its a special day for him. His birthday.

South Africa's top three have struggled at the tournament this far with just 61 runs collectively in nine trips to the crease.

Here's how they've done so far:

Reeza Hendricks: 4 v Sri Lanka, 3 v Netherlands, 0 v Bangladesh

Quinton de Kock: 20 v Sri Lanka, 0 v Netherlands, 18 v Bangladesh

Aiden Markram: 0 v Sri Lanka, 12 v Netherlands, 4 v Bangladesh

And of teams that have played more at least two matches, only Uganda and PNG worse averages.

For the first time in his short international career (this is just his eighth match), Tanzim Hasan has taken two wickets and the second was the big one: Quinton de Kock, who went for a full blooded pull and missed. The wide was the only run Tanzim conceded in his second over.

All the hype has come to nought, literally.

Reeza Hendricks was a shoe-in to open the batting at this World Cup after missing out in 2022 - the year when he reeled off four half-centuries in a row - but things have not gone well. He has scores of 4, 3 and now 0 after being hit on the back leg by a Tanzim Hasan delivery that kept low. Both his last dismissals came after he found himself trapped in the crease, unable to get forward. This time, Hendricks didn't even consider a review and walked off, with Ryan Rickelton in reserve likely eyeing a spot in the XI for the next match.

The problem? Hendricks is South Africa's only batter of colour and in a squad where they already only have one black African player, they will miss their transformation targets by even more if Hendricks is benched.

Boundaries have been hard to come by in New York thanks to the slow outfield and difficult pitch but Quinton de Kock has got started with a bang. He whacked the second ball he faced over deep backward square for the first six of the match, and South Africa's 10th of the tournament. And then followed that with another powerful stroke: a four through midwicket.

Word on the street is that there are around 20,000 fans expected at Eisenhower Park, and you can bet that most of them will be backing Bangladesh. Here are some of them.

For now, you can watch our pre-match show hosted by Yash Jha with special guests Morne Morkel, Sanjay Manjrekar and Tamim Iqbal.

Well, well, well, well! Even though chasing has been the way to win matches in New York, Aiden Markram has decided to bat first on a used wicket. Remember two other matches have already been played on this strip.

They're going in with an unchanged XI from their previous two wins so still no space for Gerald Coetzee, Ryan Rickelton or Tabraiz Shamsi.

South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich Nortje

One change for Bangladesh. Soumya Sarkar is out and Tanzid Hassan comes in.

Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Tanzid Hassan, 3 Litton Das (wk), 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan, 10 Taskin Ahmed 11 Mustafizur Rahman

While we wait for the toss, get a hold of some of this.

Mohammad Isam, our Bangladesh correspondent, has written on legspinner Rishad Hossain, who may well pose a threat to a South African line-up that is not historically strong against spin.

Or you can relive David Miller's match-winning half-century against Netherlands.

The last time these two teams met at a T20 World Cup, South Africa beat Bangladesh by 104 runs in Sydney, but the time before that, in 2021, was far more interesting. Chasing just 84, South Africa used 13.3 overs and that ended up costing them a place in the semi-finals because of it's impact on their net run-rate. They finished on the same number of points as England and Australia but with a lower net run-rate. Here, with a different tournament format, the stakes are much lower as there's still a Super 8 Round to go and run scoring has been so slow that 84 runs inside 14 overs is perhaps to be expected.

This match will be played on the same strip as the India-Pakistan game yesterday, where Pakistan failed to chase 120. South Africa have also played on this surface before. They beat Netherlands on it on Saturday, but it was hard work. They chased 104 and won with seven balls to spare.