Bangladesh's 5 biggest defeats in T20Is

Bangladesh succumbed to their biggest defeat in T20Is (in terms of runs) against South Africa today in the ongoing T20 World Cup. In the match held at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Bangladesh couldn't even outscore Rilee Rossouw (109 off 56), who slammed his second consecutive century in this format.

With Bangladesh being handed their biggest T20I defeat, The Business Standard (TBS) takes a look at five of Bangladesh's biggest losses (by runs) in the shortest format.

vs South Africa, Sydney, 2022 (by 104 runs)

Bangladesh had just won their first match in the main round of a T20 World Cup in 15 years (against the Netherlands) and South Africa were unfortunate to lose a point because of inclement weather. It was a must-win game for Temba Bavuma's side and Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan spoke about exploiting South Africa's must-win game pressure.

Probably except for the first couple of overs, South Africa showed absolutely no signs of pressure. Quinton de Kock (63 off 38) was in his element again and started from where he left off in the (incomplete) previous match against Zimbabwe. Rossouw got a brilliant hundred against India in his previous innings in this format and the southpaw followed it up with yet another ton, this time on a bigger ground and at a bigger stage. Bangladesh had almost nothing to show with the bat and fell short by 104 runs.

vs Pakistan, Karachi, 2008 (by 102 runs)

In the only T20I of the series, Bangladesh were off to the best possible start, getting both the Pakistan openers out in the first over itself. But it was all Pakistan after that. The home side rode on the brilliant display of Misbah-ul-Haq (87 off 53), Younis Khan (47 off 28), and Shoaib Malik (35 off 18) to post 203 for five.

In reply, eight Bangladesh batters failed to register double figures and Bangladesh's highest innings was an excruciatingly slow one - 42 off 48 by Nazimuddin. The visitors were all-out with four overs in hand, scoring only 101. 

vs South Africa, Potchefstroom, 2017 (83 runs)

Winning the toss, Bangladesh sent South Africa in. But they had little idea what was coming their way. Hashim Amla (85 off 51) played a stunning knock at the top of the order but it was David Miller who stole the show. Everyone still remembers that 19th over bowled by Mohammad Saifuddin that cost 31 runs. Miller smashed a 35-ball-hundred, the fastest in T20I history and the Proteas posted 224 for four.

Soumya Sarkar played an enterprising knock of 44 off 27 but Bangladesh never looked like getting close to the total and eventually were bundled out for 141 in just 18 overs. Everyone from South Africa's bowling group chipped in with at least one wicket. 

vs Sri Lanka, Sylhet, 2018 (75 runs)

Sri Lanka batters were in irresistible form in that match as four of their batters had strike-rates of 160-plus. Danushka Gunathilaka (42 off 37) anchored the innings while the others just exploded. Kusal Mendis, who takes a liking to Bangladesh always, notched up a brilliant 70 off 42. There were effective cameos from Thisara Perera (31 off 17) and Dasun Shanaka (30 off 11) too as Sri Lanka gave Bangladesh a target of 211.

Bangladesh were never quite in the chase as they lost half of their side by the ninth over. Mahmudullah (41 off 31) fought but it was never going to be enough to prevent a heavy defeat of 75 runs).

vs New Zealand, Kolkata, 2016 (75 runs)

Though Bangladesh lost the match by a massive margin, fans will remember it for a long time because of Mustafizur Rahman's outstanding bowling display. He was in top form on a Kolkata deck which was a bit slow. The left-arm seamer made the Black Caps dance to his tunes and famously cleaned up their captain Kane Williamson who looked clueless. Mustafizur's five for 22 helped Bangladesh restrict New Zealand to 145 for eight and it looked a chaseable total.

But none of the batters turned up that day and Ish Sodhi's leg-spin and Grant Elliott's slow medium pace proved to be too good for Bangladesh as they were all-out for 70 in 15.4 overs.