Rare record beckons all-rounder Shakib
He needs just 17 runs to join in elite-club
Sports Reporter
The first ODI between Bangladesh and South Africa will be the first match in Kimberley after 2013 and it is likely to be the conducive to the batsmen. The pitches at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley are generally flatter than the ones Potchefstroom and Bloemfontein. In List A matches played this year, the average score batting first at this venue is 259, with four out of six matches won by the team batting first. It is set to be a hot day - around 30 degrees Celsius - with no chance of rain.
If the pitch is really flatter, Shakib Al Hasan has the ability to make the most use of it. Shakib made an instant impact after joining the side, scoring 68 off 67 balls in the warm-up match on Thursday. Moreover only 17 runs in the first match would make him the only fifth player in the history to have the double of 5000 runs and 200 wickets. The four all-time elite club members are Sri Lanka`s Jayasuriya (323 wickets and 13430 runs), Jacques Kallis (11579 runs and 273 wickets), Pakistan`s Shahid Afridi (8064 runs a and 395 wickets) and another Pakistani cricketer Abdur Razzak (5080 runs and 269 wickets).
Shakib will be the second Bangladeshi batsman after Tamim Iqbal to score 5000 ODI runs if he can make just 17.
While Shakib has the special record to wait, Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman are 41 and 90 runs away from reaching 1000 runs in ODIs. Pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman also needs six wickets to reach the milestone of 50 wickets.
However Shakib Al Hasan said Bangladesh shouldnt carry on the memory of Test series as the ODI series will present them a new opportunity to bounce back. The last time South Africa went to Bangladesh they lost; no one expected them to lose, but its not like everything fell apart for them, he said comparing Bangladeshs current plight in South Africa to South Africas in Bangladesh in 2015.
Bolstered by the inclusion of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh will look to bounce back in the ODI series, putting aside the horrific memory of Test series.
Opener Tamim Iqbal who missed the second Test due to his thigh injury is all set to comeback, much to the delight of the struggling team.
After fielding a comparatively weaker side in the Test series, South Africa will get their full strength back as AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller will join the ODI side. However Bangladesh still can hope because of the format which particularly they get to their likings.
Bangladesh won just three matches against the Proteas in 17 ODIs, but the recent stat is in visitors favour as they won the last bilateral series by 2-1 at home in 2015.
A revenge of the first ever bilateral series loss will be in South Africas mind following their crushing 333 and inning and 254 runs win over Bangladesh in two-Test series.
