Tigers crushed by Rossouw ton

Rilee Rossouw blasted 109 and shared in a record-breaking stand with Quinton de Kock as South Africa crushed Bangladesh to kickstart their Twenty20 World Cup title charge in Sydney on Thursday.

The pair came together after Temba Bavuma fell in the first over and powered their team to 205-5. Bangladesh were dismissed for just 101 in the 17th over with Anrich Nortje taking 4-10.

Rossouw and De Kock amassed 168 for the second wicket -- the highest-ever T20 World Cup partnership -- surpassing the 166 that Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara made against the West Indies in 2010.

De Kock fell for 63 but Rossouw charged on, bringing up the first century of the tournament and only the 10th scored at any T20 World Cup.

He was eventually out going for another big hit, ending a 56-ball knock which included eight sixes and seven fours. It was the fifth-highest score at a T20 World Cup.

“Sometimes things go your way. And this year has been like an unbelievable rollercoaster ride for me,” said Rossouw. 

“So happy. So proud to be sitting here. Never thought about it (a century) in a million years.

“Today where I thought we did really well was we took on the spin ... and we really took charge and wanted to control that area and we did well.”

The blitz set up the Proteas for a much-needed Group 2 victory after their opening match on Monday against Zimbabwe in Hobart was washed out and the points were shared.

Bangladesh opened their campaign with a nine-wicket win over the Netherlands, but they have a poor record against top teams at World Cups.

“Credit goes to Rilee and Quinton de Kock, I think that partnership took the game away from us,” said Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.