Proteas hit Tigers for 194

It could have been worse for Bangladesh. That is likely the feeling with which they walked off the field after being asked to field first in the first T20I at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein. For the first 10 overs opener Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers were hitting the ball almost at will and a total well in excess of 200 was in the offing, but spirited bowling from spearhead Rubel Hossain and off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz kept the Proteas to 195 for four in 20 overs.

New T20I captain Shakib Al Hasan chose to open with two spinners – himself and Mehedi – after Bangladesh had opted to include all four fast bowlers in the squad. Mehedi bowled Hashim Amla in the second over with one that held its line and beat Amla's inside-out cover drive. From 18 for one after two overs, De Villiers and De Kock put on 79 runs in just seven overs. Shakib used four bowlers in the first four overs -- Rubel and Taskin Ahmed being the third and fourth -- but it was Rubel's second over and the fifth of the innings when the hosts took off, with three boundaries. Rubel tried to change it up with two slower balls in the fifth and sixth, but the masterful De Villiers picked both variations and hit him to opposite ends of the ground.

De Villiers then hit four boundaries in the next over from Shafiul Islam -- one of which was a misfield at short fine leg by Taskin. Following that ball, De Villiers got down on one knee and swept a middl-stump yorker along the ground to the fine leg fence, before moving away and thumping over cover off the last ball, to complete an 18-run over. Bangladesh's decision to field six specialist bowlers seemed a smart one at that point.

Mehedi pulled things back in the eighth over, which was the first without a boundary and Shakib followed that up with another boundary-less over. The pressure told, as De Villiers miscued a slog aimed for long on off Mehedi in the 10th over and Mahmudullah Riyad took a fine catch to send back the maestro for a 27-ball 49 studded with eight sublime boundaries.

In the next over, De Kock survived a direct hit from midwicket when JP Duminy had called for a couple because Shakib's hand took off the bails before the ball had hit with De Kock's bat still on the line. De Kock completed a well-compiled half century off 35 balls when he hammered a six over cow corner, but off the fifth ball of the over Duminy was undone by arguably Bangladesh's best moment on the field on this tour. Duminy hammered a ball high and to the left of Imrul Kayes at long off, who made a hopping attempt to catch the ball, but it lobbed up and away and Imrul continued his sprint to dive forward and take a special catch.

In the 15 th over, Rubel bowled a great over of full-pitched deliveries aimed at De Kock's pads and after two pitched outside leg and thudded into the pads, the fast bowler managed to land one in line trap the half-centurion in front for 59 off 44.

Farhaan Berhardien and David Miller then took over, combining for 62 runs off the last five over.