October 05 Saturday 2002
Gibbs, Ntini blast Bangladesh to defeat

POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa: Herschelle Gibbs hit his third successive century and Makhaya Ntini destroyed the Bangladesh top-order as South Africa thrashed the tourists by 168 runs in the first of three one-day Tests at the North West Stadium on Thursday (partially reported yesterday).

Gibbs made a career-best 153 as South Africa piled up an imposing 301 for 8 in their 50 overs. Ntini took three wickets in his first five overs as Bangladesh crashed to 43 for 6 in reply before they made a partial recovery to finish with 133. It was Bangladesh's 21st successive defeat, only one short of their world all-time worst streak.

The one-sided match confirmed fears that the first encounter between the two countries would be a mismatch, with Bangladesh's batsmen unable to cope against South Africa's fast bowling on a pitch with reasonable bounce.

South African captain Shaun Pollock warned there would be no let-up. "We've got to set our own standards. We've got to dominate and we have to be ruthless."

The only other players to have hit three successive One-day International hundreds were Pakistan Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar. Zaheer made his hundreds against India in 1982-83, and Saeed against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Sri Lanka in 1993-94.

Makhaya Ntini had Hannan Sarkar caught at second slip in the fourth over and Bangladesh never seemed to have any ambitions of chasing victory. Ntini, Pollock and Allan Donald bowled with up to four slips and a gully as they kept the pressure on the batsmen. Skipper Khaled Mashud (34 not out) and Tapash Baisya (24) put on a record 60 for the eighth wicket to save Bangladesh from total humiliation.