Bangladesh vs. South Africa, 2nd T20: Winners and Losers

South Africa beat Bangladesh by 31 runs in Mirpur on Tuesday to take the two-match Twenty20 series 0-2.

South Africa have gotten their tour off to a brilliant start, and the win will no doubt give them a confidence boost heading into the one-day series.

For Bangladesh, it’s back to the drawing board. They managed some good wins over Pakistan and India recently, but South Africa, even with a second-string attack, have proved to be a whole different challenge.

We’ve picked some winners and losers from the second T20, add yours in the comments.

Winner: Eddie Leie

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In an unusual move for South Africa, they opted for two front-line spinners in Tuesday’s team.

Eddie Leie, on debut, did not disappoint. He let rip, picking up three for 16 in his three overs and showed plenty of potential for the future.

Leie has been on the rise on the South African domestic circuit for quite some time, and when once upon a time South Africa were struggling for spinners, they suddenly have plenty of them. It will be interesting to see how selectors manage the squad once Imran Tahir returns to the T20 side.

Winner: South Africa's Batting Order

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OK, so during the first T20 this writer suggested that South Africa’s batting order was the loser.

With AB de Villiers opening alongside fellow aggressor Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw hidden down the order, the batting lineup seemed a little bit lopsided. But the thinking behind their plan became quite clear in the second T20.

Having your best batsman face as many balls as possible is a good idea, and that’s exactly what South Africa have done with De Villiers. Rossouw showed that he can hammer it when needs be, and his 19 off just six balls helped propel South Africa to a very impressive total of 169.

Loser: Bangladesh's Spinners

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It seems completely absurd, but Bangladesh’s spinners were having a bit of a tough time on a surface that had a bit in it to assist the tweakers.

Bangladesh’s spinners did manage a few wickets between them but overly struggled to really get the ball to turn. It’s a weird parallel world where South Africa have spinners that are more effective than a country known for spin.

Loser: Bangladesh’s Momentum

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As already mentioned, before these two T20s against South Africa, Bangladesh were on quite the roll. After beating India, Bangladesh thought they had qualified for the Champions Trophy, but a slap-dash organised series has put that at risk.

Bangladesh need to put in a positive result against South Africa in order to ensure they clinch qualification. The loss of momentum will doubtless have an impact on their confidence heading into the one-day series.

Winner: The Weather, Again

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Monsoon season has been good to the cricket between these two teams. Despite it being rainy season, the rain has not yet intervened.

Whether we’ll be so lucky during the one-day and Test series only time will tell, but for the time being, it seems the weather gods have got the good of cricket at heart.