Graeme Smith led South Africa to a thumping nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their ICC Champions Trophy Group B match in Birmingham on Sunday.
The South Africa skipper smashed the winning runs through mid-wicket in the 18th over after his bowlers had demolished Bangladesh for 93 in 31.3 of their scheduled 50 overs.
Smith finished 42 not out and Jacques Kallis hit an unbeaten 40. Herschelle Gibbs was the only wicket to fall in the South African innings.
Gibbs fell to a fine delivery from Tapash Baisya, bowled through the gate for four with the total on 15.
It was a rare bright moment for Bangladesh who were outplayed in every department.
Bangladesh captain Rajin Saleh, aged only 20, won the toss and chose to bat, ignoring the convention that English conditions, especially late in the season, favour batting second.
Charl Langeveldt ripped through the openers and Makhaya Ntini mopped up the tail. Man-of-the-match Langeveldt finished with figures of three for 17 and fellow fast bowler Ntini three for 19.
Spinner Nicky Boje, three for 23, chipped in with the key wicket of top scorer Nafis Iqbal, who made 40 before skying a catch to Gibbs.
Boje also captured Khaled Mashud, last man out after a dogged innings of 24. Mashud, the only other Bangladesh batsman to reach double figures, sent a top edge to Smith.
"It was clinical, it was dominant, it was what we wanted today. The bowlers got a lot of zip out of the wicket," Smith said. "Confidence is important and any win gives you confidence."
South Africa came into the tournament on the back of 10 successive one-day defeats in New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
They now meet West Indies, the other team in Group B, at the Oval on Saturday.
SCOREBOARD BANGLADESH:
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Javed Omar lbw b Langeveldt 4
M. Ashraful c Kallis b Langeveldt 4
Nafis Iqbal c Gibbs b Boje 40
R. Saleh c van Jaarsveld b Langeveldt 0
Aftab Ahmed c Boucher b Pollock 0
Khaled Mashud c Smith b Boje 24
Manjural Islam Rana b Boje 1
M. Rahman c Boje b Ntini 0
M. Rafique c Boje b Ntini 0
T. Baisya c Boucher b Ntini 5
Nazmul Hossain not out 1
Extras: (lb-7 nb-2 w-5) 14
Total: (all out, 31.3 overs) 93
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FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 2-15 3-15 4-20 5-63 6-71 7-72 8-72 9-80
BOWLING: Pollock 6-1-15-1 (w-2), Langeveldt 7-0-17-3 (nb-1 w-2), Ntini 9-3-19-3 (nb-1 w-1), Klusener 3-1-12-0, Boje 6.3-0-23-3
SOUTH AFRICA:
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G.Smith not out 42
H.Gibbs b Tapash Baisya 4
J.Kallis not out 40
Extras: (b-5 w-2 nb-1) 8
Total: (for one wicket, 17.5 overs) 94
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FALL OF WICKET: 1-15
DID NOT BAT: J.Rudolph, M.van Jaarsveld, M.Boucher, S.Pollock, L.Klusener, N.Boje, C.Langeveldt, M.Ntini
BOWLING: Tapash Baisya 6-0-39-1 (nb-1, w-1), Nazmul Hossain 6-1-17-0 (w-1), Mohammad Rafique 3-0-9-0, Mushfiqur Rahman 2.5-0-24-0
RESULT: South Africa won by nine wickets.
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