In the battle of the experienced ODI players, Bangladesh overpowered South Africa in Chittagong. During the high-pressure moments, Mashrafe Mortaza superbly marshaled his resources against a team stunned by the hosts' resurgence over the last five days.
With Morne Morkel picked to replace Chris Morris in the playing XI for the third ODI, South Africa had three players with at least 100 ODI caps. Bangladesh on the other hand had five players with 100-plus caps in their line-up. It may not be much, but both teams are going through a transition phase that is being shepherded by senior cricketers.
South Africa were missing their regular ODI captain AB de Villiers and it told on how they reacted when the run-rate slowed down and the team was in need of a lift, especially with wickets falling in regular intervals. Even the slog overs missed de Villiers' full-throttle attack as the likes of David Miller, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien failed to contribute in the same manner or even come close.
On Wednesday, much was expected from Duminy, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock. Amla survived a caught-behind that Bangladesh did not really appeal for on 1, and a dropped catch at mid-off when he was on 13, before getting out for a miserable 15 in more than an hour. De Kock's 2015 has been wretched, and it was underlined when he missed Mustafizur Rahman's inswinger in the third over.
Only Duminy held together South Africa's innings, which was split by a three-hour rain break. He made 51 off 70 balls with three fours. It was an innings that confirmed survival, but not thrust. Duminy added 63 with David Miller, who forced himself to 44 off 51 balls but he was caught at point after the rain break. Du Plessis was a big disappointment as he holed out to Shakib Al Hasan in the eighth over. He had started off the tour in fine fashion with runs in the T20s, but was not in the thick of it in the second and third ODIs.
South Africa's experience was outdone by Bangladesh's, in this instant. Mashrafe, sensing a shorter match as the dark clouds approached fast from the western skies, brought Shakib on early and was rewarded with two early wickets - Amla and du Plessis. Shakib was unlucky to have Amla dropped once, but he kept plugging away.
He had predicted in the press conference on the eve of the game that batsmen would not go after him, but when the South Africa batsmen did, they found he was not easy to get away from. Shakib later added the wicket of Behardien to cap off a fine 3 for 33 from eight overs, and in the process, completed 200 wickets and 4,000 runs in ODIs, only the seventh player to do so, and the fastest in the list.
Mashrafe's captaincy in the first 20 overs spoke highly of his cricket sense. He used little of pace despite Mustafizur's early wicket, and more of Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah, who got him a wicket too. Among the more experienced players, Mushfiqur had a mixed afternoon; he dropped two catches off Miller's edge, forget to appeal to the one he took from Amla, but still pouched three catches. Still, it showed he did not flinch when catches were not being held. Experience came into play.
In the last 12 months, Bangladesh have been constantly guided by Mashrafe and Mushfiqur at the helm, with broad contributions from Shakib, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah. Mashrafe took over as limited-overs captain from Mushfiqur Rahim in September, but all five have been contributing more or less regularly. Often in the past, Bangladesh's seniors failed to contribute and in the process, created a lot pressure on their talented newcomers. This side, though, is a more wholesome set, with both sides of the experience spectrum coming to the fore.
When the hosts later went out to bat, Tamim kept his head to complete his team's grip around South Africa. He added a century stand for the opening wicket with Soumya Sarkar, the leader of Bangladesh's young brigade.
Where Soumya battered the South African bowlers, Tamim played the matured second-fiddle, something that he has not done in a very long time, perhaps never. That is the thing with experience: you can drop two catches, but you will end up taking three. You can be the enforcer for a long time, but when a new enforcer comes, you know how to slow down. When you have four bowlers to rotate, you know when to use the non-regulars.
Bangladesh were questioned before when their wealth of experience was disposed of in the early 2000s, and a new group of youngsters were backed to the hilt. It is paying off in droves for them now. South Africa would have also liked to see their own young guns - de Kock, Rossouw, Behardien, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott - fire in a game that suddenly became too important for them.
Bangladesh turned it around and made their experience count, while South Africa failed to do so. It's not something that is often heard when South Africa play against a lower-ranked side in a bilateral ODI series. They usually win, but Bangladesh took them apart on a Sunday and a Wednesday.