October 07 Monday 2002
Gibbs blasts Bangladesh to defeat 

BENONI, South Africa: Herschelle Gibbs finished three runs short of a world record fourth successive one-day international century as South Africa crushed Bangladesh by ten wickets in the second one-day international at Willowmoore Park here on Sunday. 

The South African opener slammed 97 not out off 66 balls as his team raced to a victory target of 155 in just 20.2 overs. 

He seemed set for his century when he faced leg-spinner Alok Kapali with his score on 96 and six needed for victory. 

Gibbs charged the first ball of the over and Kapali sent it far down the legside. It was called wide and went to the boundary - five runs in total - and the scores were level. 

Two balls later Gibbs hit powerfully to long-on but the ball was cut off and the single run ended the match. 

Gibbs' chances of setting the record seemed slight after Bangladesh struggled to a modest 154 for nine off 50 overs. 

But he played a series of outrageous shots, charging down the pitch to attack the Bangladesh new ball bowlers and hitting the ball to all parts of the ground as he thrashed 19 boundaries. 

The South African opening batsman described the closing moments: "He saw me coming (down the pitch) and pushed it down the legside - it was just one of those things." 

Asked when he had starting thinking of his fourth successive century he replied: "Last night". 

Of going out to bat chasing a low target: "There was nothing to lose. The first 70 or 80 came quicker than I thought but it was not to be." 

After he raced into the seventies, he realised there was a chance. At the same time a message came out from the dressing room advising his opening partner Graeme Smith to "take it easy". 

Gibbs said: "Before that we hadn't really discussed it. Graeme was also batting well." 

South African captain Shaun Pollock said that if Kapali had bowled a wide to deny Gibbs his century, "I would be very disappointed". 

Bangladesh manager Abu Sharif Mahmood Faruque said however: "I have spoken to the captain and it was unintentional." 

Gibbs shares the world record of three hundreds in a row with Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar of Pakistan. During his innings he became the first batsman in the world to score 1,000 runs in limited-overs internationals this year. 

Bangladesh needed a recovery by their tailenders after another failure by their top order batsmen to make 154 for nine after being sent in to bat. 

Tapash Baisya, batting at number nine, made an unbeaten 35 off 46 balls as Bangladesh fought back from 57 for five and 117 for eight. 

Baisya and Monjural Islam put on 37 for the ninth wicket in the best partnership of the innings. 

Bangladesh, who were beaten by 168 runs when the three-game series started in Potchefstroom Thursday, seemed set for another humiliation when they crashed to 57 for five against South Africa's fast bowlers. 

Makhaya Ntini, who finished with three for 28, took two wickets in the 12th over, having opening batsman Hannan Sarkar caught behind, then bowling Al Sahariar. Sarkar and Omar had put on 26 for the first wicket. 

Javed Omar made 24 off 65 balls before playing a loose drive to be caught behind off Klusener as he tried to lift his scoring rate. 

Tushar Imran made 23 off 31 deliveries and hit five boundaries in the brightest innings of the morning. Imran earned the cheers of several hundred flag-waving Bangladesh supporters when he hit Allan Donald for two successive boundaries.

Attacking shots were rare, however, as the pace of the South African bowlers and the bounce of the Willowmoore Park pitch ensured that the Bangladeshis were unable to do much more than play for survival until Baisya's flurry in the closing overs.