Bangladeshed

17 July 2015 - 02:03 By Telford Vice

Now what? South Africans will be asking that question for days yet in the wake of their team's meltdown in their one-day series in Bangladesh. The Proteas crashed to defeat twice in four days against a side far inferior to them, and a team they had blown away in two T20s and the first ODI - facts that have startled even those who have been inside the dressing room."You're expected to win in Bangladesh, finish and klaar," fast-bowling great Allan Donald said yesterday."But [Bangladesh] outplayed us in all departments . that's difficult to swallow. It wasn't easy to watch us get absolutely drilled by kids who have got some confidence."The glass looked a little more like half-full for former SA batsman Boeta Dippenaar: "We shouldn't read too deeply into this."We didn't pick a recognised all-rounder, which was a huge problem in terms of the balance of the side."Ryan McLaren, a controversial omission from SA's World Cup squad, fitted the bill. But he spent the series on the bench.AB de Villiers' absence was another key factor - which SA brought on themselves.He was released from the squad for the series when he was banned for the first match because of an accumulation of over-rate offences."He gets bowlers off their lines and lengths," Dippenaar said. "With AB not [being] there, we're not as experienced as we would like to think we are."Hashim Amla, who stood in for De Villiers as captain, scored 51 runs in three innings for an average of 17. His overall ODI average is 54.17.Despite the series result, SA remain fourth in the rankings and Bangladesh are still seventh - an indication of the quality gap between the sides.But this success follows similarly happy endings for Bangladesh in rubbers against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and India. Donald acknowledged that "they aren't pushovers any more; they know how to win on their own pitches".Dippenaar added: "When they beat Pakistan, we could have said 'you don't know which Pakistan team is going to turn up'."But when they beat India we should have taken notice. Well, now we've taken notice."..

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