Please Bangladesh, go home

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE in Cape Town

BANGLADESH go home. Please. It’s for your own good. Happily, after Sunday, when they clash with South Africa in the second T20 in Potchefstroom — the scene of the first crime on their shambolic tour — they will.

Whether Bangladesh will go home having won the last match of their visit is besides the point.

A lonely aberration of a victory in the most insignificant format would mean nothing after hidings in both tests, three more in the one-day internationals and a respectable though failed attempt to get over the line in the first T20.

Yes, South Africa have been that good. But it’s difficult to praise them when their opposition have been execrable.

The home side won the first T20 by 20 runs in Bloemfontein on Thursday despite fielding an attack that was more than three times less experienced than their batting line-up.

The six men who took guard for South Africa did so holding 305 T20 caps between them. The six bowlers? A scant 100, and 71 of those belonged to JP Duminy, who sent down only one over.

Bangladesh were in the game for the first nine overs of their reply, but then they ran out of confidence and wickets as South Africa’s bowlers found a way back.

“We didn’t start too well in the first six overs; we bowled quite a few bad deliveries,” AB de Villiers said after a match in which he batted in a parallel universe for his 49 off 27 balls.

“They tried quite a few different deliveries and I don’t think that was necessary. But they came back really well for the rest of the game.

“We might have to go and work on our business in the first six overs. We’ll have a chat about that.”

Doubtless that chat has been had. And it wouldn’t have been had properly if it didn’t conclude that the kids are alright. They just need to be alright from ball one, not over 10.

Dane Paterson is a case in point. On Thursday, having been carted to all parts in his first two overs, which cost 22 runs, he conceded only nine from his other, superb, two and claimed two wickets into the bargain.

Potch offers similar conditions to Bloem, albeit that the pitch could be slower and that the outfield is smaller.

What hasn’t changed for six games now, and won’t on Sunday, is that South Africa are vastly superior.

But that means nothing unless you go out and prove it.