South Africa survived some anxious moments before beating Bangladesh by seven wickets to emerge Group A leaders and set up a clash with England in the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 Cricket World Championships at Newlands, Cape Town on Saturday.
After bowling out Bangladesh for 144, the South Africans survived a scare from the Asian giant-killers towards the end before romping home with seven balls to spare in the final group A encounter.
The win was sweet revenge for the Proteas, who had been embarrassed by the minnows in the ODI World Cup in West Indies earlier this year.
South African skipper Graeme Smith and number three Albie Morkel made identical scores of 41, while debutant opener Jean-Paul Duminy also chipped in with 36 as the hosts reached the target in a tense chase.
The Proteas needed five of the last eight deliveries when Justin Kemp sealed the issue by hitting a six of Mashrafe Mortaza.
The loss left Bangladesh second in the group, which sets them up against ODI world champions and group B leaders Australia in the next stage.
Smith and Duminy gave a solid start to the South African innings by adding 50 runs for the opening wicket before the latter departed, trapped leg before while attempting a slog-sweep of Abdur Razzak.
{{/usCountry}}Smith and Duminy gave a solid start to the South African innings by adding 50 runs for the opening wicket before the latter departed, trapped leg before while attempting a slog-sweep of Abdur Razzak.
{{/usCountry}}Morkel joined Smith for another steady partnership before the skipper edged a sweep off Shakib al Hasan to stumper Mushfiqur Rahim.
Teams
South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Vernon Philander, Albie Morkel, Johan van der Wath, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini.
Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Aftab Ahmed, Shakib al Hasan, Alok Kapali, Farhad Reza, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, Abdur Razzak.