History awaits in Centurion

Bangladesh cricket team is on the brink of winning their first-ever series win against South Africa on their turf if they can win the third and final One-Day International at Centurion on Wednesday.

The Tigers won an ODI series 2-1 against South Africa at home in 2015, which remains their solitary series win against the Proteas in any format to date.

Tamim & co won the first ODI of the series by 38 runs at the same venue on Friday. The hosts bounced back in the second ODI on Sunday, making the third and final match a series decider.

The Bangladesh camp is a bit shaken due to the uncertainty regarding Shakib Al Hasan’s availability, who decided to come back to Bangladesh to be beside his ailing family members but changed his mind at the last moment. The all-rounder will be available for the third ODI at Centurion, which is good news for the Tigers.

Shakib scored 77 runs from 64 balls in the first ODI, which helped Bangladesh put up a good total of 314-7 against the Proteas.

The match will start at 1 PM (Local Time), which means the surface is not likely to offer any assistance for the pacers early on.

Tamim won the toss in both the ODIs so far and decided to bat. In the first match, the decision helped the team to claim their first ODI win in South Africa, but it boomeranged at the Wanderers.

A total team effort in three departments helped the Tigers to secure their first win in South Africa, and they must produce a similar performance to win their first-ever series in South Africa.

Centurion has not been so lucky for the home side in the past couple of years as in the last four ODI matches on this ground, South Africa lost three, and the other against the Netherlands was washed out.

The Proteas have received a blow with the news that all-rounder Wayne Parnell is out of the third and final ODI against Bangladesh.

Parnell played in the second ODI, but sustained a left hamstring strain during Sunday’s Pink ODI at the Wanderers, and was out for the remainder of the match.

Quinton De Kock, who missed out on the first ODI, which Bangladesh won, returned to the team and scored 62 runs. He can make the difference, and so can leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. Bangladesh are likely to field an
unchanged side.