It all began with Mushfiq’s wicket

Having restricted the mighty South Africans to 148/4 in 20 overs in the opening T20I of the series, Bangladesh may have entertained a famous upset at Mirpur today.

With the required run-rate a shade over seven, Bangladesh looked well on their way to challenge South Africa for the win with Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim at the crease.

Both these batters looked settled and were going steady when JP Duminy decided to throw a spanner in their works.

The turning point of the match came when the South African allrounder Duminy dismissed Mushfiqur for 17 in the eighth over.

Bangladesh became 50/3 after Mushy left and found it impossible to get back into the match.

Duminy saw Mushfiq come down the track and fired the ball at the batsman's pads.

Mushfiqur went with his shot and managed to pick out David Miller at mid-wicket.

The batting collapse initiated with Mushfiqur's wicket saw Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan return to the pavilion in quick succession.

The double-strike from Duminy with Phangiso chipping in with a wicket knocked the stuffing out of Bangladesh's batting.

Wickets fell in the 10th, 11th and 14th over after Mushfiqur was dismissed by Duminy.

By then South Africa were well on their way to a thumping victory over the hosts.

JP Duminy was the pick of the bowlers, took two important wickets in four overs and gave away only 11 runs.

All the Proteas bowlers managed to capture a wicket to bowl out Bangladesh for only 96 runs, and win the match by 52 runs in the process.

Faf du Plessis and Mashrafe Mortaza shake hands after the Proteas won the opening T20I of the 2-match series against Bangladesh by 52 runs. Photo: STAR