World Cup 2019: Key players for the clash between South Africa and Bangladesh

By
Arijah Siddiqui

June 02, 2019


South Africa and Bangladesh will face each other in the fifth match of the tournament. Photo: File

LONDON: The fifth match of the ICC World Cup 2019 will be played today between South Africa and Bangladesh at The Oval, London (2:30 pm PST) and (10:30 am Local time).

The Proteas already lost their opening match of the tournament whereas, Bangladesh will be launching their official World Cup campaign today. A balance of fresh and experienced players can be seen on both sides.

Following will be the noticeable players of the match:

Faf du Plessis (South Africa)

South African skipper Faf du Plessis in action. Photo: File

The South African skipper was the top run-getter in the warm-up match against Sri Lanka where he scored 88 runs off 81 balls, including seven boundaries and four impressive sixes. With an intrinsic charm in his style of batting and an amazing average of 61.71, du Plessis has scored 432 runs in 11 matches this year, till date with 112* being his top notch. Overall, the man is in hot form.

Imran Tahir (South Africa)

South Africa's important asset, Imran Tahir became the first leg-break spinner to bowl an opening over in a World Cup match ever. Photo: File
 

The 40-year-old became the first leg-break spinner to bowl an opening over in a World Cup match ever. Imran Tahir was also able to provide a breakthrough to the Proteas in the very first over versus England. 164 wickets in 99 matches, Tahir's best bowling figure is 7/45 against West Indies in a Tri-Series. He has a very huge fan following all around the world.

Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)

The lethal Kagiso Rabada of South Africa. Photo: File

In the absence of the veteran Dale Steyn, South Africa confidently experimented with their pace attacker, Kagiso Rabada, in their opener match against England, where he knocked off the opponent’s batting line-up with his expeditious bowling pace by picking up 2 wickets. KG has already picked up 108 wickets in 67 ODI matches with 6/16 being his best bowling figures.

Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh)

Bangladeshi batsman Mushfiqur Rahim in action. Photo: File

Playing his fourth World Cup, Mushfiqur Rahim will be gold-worthy for Bangladesh throughout their campaign in the tournament. The wicket-keeper batsman scored an amazing 90 runs against India in the warm-up match and also has been consistently performing for his team with an average of 34.95 in 205 ODIs (191 innings), including six centuries and thirty-three half-centuries. Not only scoring runs is his part of the game, but he also has 169 catches and 42 stumpings to his heaps of experience.

Shakib-ul-Hasan (Bangladesh) 

 ICC ranked#1 ODI all-rounder, Shakib-ul-Hasan. Photo: File

ICC ranked#1 ODI all-rounder, Shakib is considered as the best cricketer to have ever played for Bangladesh. He is as good with the ball as he is with the bat. He picked up two crucial wickets of Dhoni and Pandya in the warm-up match against India but despite getting out on a duck, Shakib serves as the nucleus of Bangladesh cricket team with an amazing career of 198 ODI matches where he scored runs with a decent average of 35.73, picking up 249 wickets.