South Africa A level series with dominant win

South Africa A levelled their five-match one-day series against Bangladesh A with an easy victory in the second game in Paarl. The result was set up by big-hitting from the hosts' lower-middle order, which plundered 68 runs off the last 25 balls of the innings. That took South Africa A to a score of 285, which proved too much for Bangladesh A.

Having chased successfully in the first one-dayer, Bangladesh chose to field, and they got a couple of early wickets. Jacques Rudolph, the South Africa A captain, had not had a big innings in the four-day matches or the first 50-over game, and was keen to get some runs. His 89, along with Farhaan Behardien's 66, gave the hosts a platform from which to launch.

The score when Behardien fell in the 46th over was 217 for 5 and at that stage Bangladesh were still in the game. Vaughn van Jaarsveld started the onslaught, smashing two sixes and a four in the 47th over, before holing out in the deep for 37 off 25 balls. The next two overs went for 18, and in the 50th, 19-year-old legspinner Noor Hossain was taken apart. Allrounder Vernon Philander hit him for two straight sixes before wicketkeeper Heino Kuhn struck two more, again straight. The over cost 27 and South Africa went into the break with all the momentum.

Bangladesh needed to start their chase aggressively and they did, but lost wickets too. Philander, who had scored 23 off 9 balls, did the early damage, picking up three wickets to leave Bangladesh 87 for 4. Bangladesh A captain Mohammad Ashraful, who had scored an unbeaten century in the previous game, raced to a run-a-ball 39, but wickets continued falling at the other end. Once Ashraful was caught at third man off Craig Alexander, the match was as good as over. Philander came back to take a fourth and Bangladesh folded for 229 in 48 overs.