Mahmudullah hit his third century in World Cups but that only managed to save some grace for Bangladesh as they went down to the bottom of the table following their massive 149-run defeat to South Africa in their fifth ICC World Cup 2023 fixture in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Bangladesh currently only have two points from their five games, while South Africa have eight and currently sit second.
Mahmudullah, who returned to the ODI side with this World Cup, scored 111 off 111 balls, hitting 11 fours and four sixes.
However, chasing 383, that just reduced the margin of Bangladesh’s defeat as he could only drag the score to 227, before the team perished for 233.
Batting first, courtesy of Quinton de Kock’s brilliant 174 off 140 balls and Heinrich Klassen’s 49-ball 90, South Africa posted 382-5, the most Bangladesh have conceded so far in the tournament.
All the bowlers were off colour as they were thrashed around the park, with only Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nasum Ahmed finishing with an economy of below six.
Two of the wickets went to Hasan Mahmud, while Mehidy, Shakib Al Hasan, and Shoriful Islam picked up one each.
In reply, Bangladesh made a cautious start as their openers added 30 in six overs but managed to keep their wickets intact.
And then, the chaos began. Tanzid Hasan Tamim (12) tried to hook one off Marco Jansen and gave a catch to Klassen behind, and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (0) tickled one down the leg side to the same pair.
Shakib (one) continued on his dreadful run with the bat as he edged one off Lizaad Williams to see Bangladesh lose three wickets within the first powerplay.
Mushfiqur Rahim (8) and Liton Das (22) fell in quick succession, and Mehidy (11) followed suit.
From there, Mahmudullah dragged the team into triple figures as he fought a lone battle.
Bangladesh lost their sixth wicket on 81, when Mahmudullah was on 17.
He got out with the team was on 227, meaning among the next 146 runs Bangladesh scored, Mahmudullah contributed 94.
After Mahmudullah fell, Bangladesh could add only six more runs to get bowled out for 233.
Earlier in the day, after losing the toss, Bangladesh made a good start initially as they picked up Reeza Hendricks (12) and Rassie van der Dussen (1) within the first powerplay.
However, a 131-run partnership between de Kock and skipper Aiden Markram (60) meant they had the base to go big, and they did.
After Shakib dismissed Markram, Klassen came to the crease and his partnership with de Kock produced 142 runs in just 87 balls, taking the game away from Bangladesh.
De Kock, who now is the leading run-scorer of the tournament, smashed 15 fours and seven sixes, while Klassen hit two fours and cleared the rope eight times, before they both fell to Hasan.
Then, David Miller applied the finishing touch, scoring 34 off just 15 balls to take the Proteas to 382.
