Akter’s five-wicket haul was the catalyst for the tourists as Bangladesh restricted South Africa to 136/8 after 20 overs with all-rounder Anneke Bosch recording 67 off 49 balls (9 fours, 1 six) following the subcontinent’s first innings total of 149/2 which was inspired by Murshida Khatun’s unbeaten 59-ball 62* (6 fours, 1 six).

The visiting side won the toss and elected to bat first under scorching conditions at the Willowmoore Park stadium, as openers Shamima Sultana (24) and Khatun put on a solid partnership worth 44 runs before Nondumiso Shangase (1/13) made the breakthrough to dismiss Sultana - caught at deep square-leg.

In collaboration with Sobhana Mostary (16), Khatun helped Bangladesh add 39 more runs to the score despite disciplined bowling from South Africa before a special moment for debutant Eliz-Mari Marx (1/25) as the all-rounder claimed her maiden scalp to see the back of Mostary (16) and leave the away side 83/2 after 13 overs.

With seven overs to go and an in-batter at the crease in the shape of Khatun, Tigresses skipper Nigar Sultana Joty walked into the middle with added confidence and began to take the game to the opposition. The pair put on an undefeated 66-run stand for the third wicket, with Khatun reaching her third career fifty while Joty added a quickfire 34* off 21 balls, including six fours.

Bangladesh finished their allotted 20 overs on 149/2, with Khatun ending undeterred on 62* off 59 balls as the touring side’s top-scorer.

In their chase, the Proteas Women made a fine start of their own as openers Brits (30) and Bosch raced to a half-century stand in the powerplay to help propel the hosts to 54/0 after six overs before Rebaya Khan (1/17) and Fahima Khatun (1/22) struck two crucial blows to remove the stand-in captain Brits and Annerie Dercksen (1).

In her first outing as stand-in captain, Brits became the fastest South African women to reach 1,000 T20I runs for her country, surpassing the milestone in just 41 innings.

With the score on 72/2 at the start of the 12th over, still needing 78 runs from 54 balls for victory, former captain Suné Luus (18) combined well with Bosch to take South Africa across the 100-run mark as the latter raised her bat for a well-played half-century, her third in T20Is.

This was before Player of the Match S. Akter devastatingly entered the fray to turn the contest around in favour of the Tigresses. The leg-spinner picked up five wickets in relatively quick succession, including two overs with two wickets each, which saw the back of Luus, Bosch, Shangase (0) as well as Mieke de Ridder (1) and Masabata Klaas (0) to leave the hosts reeling in the chase.

With the Bangladeshi players’ tails up in the field, the away side held their composure to seal the emphatic result as Nahida Akter (1/31) added to the South African woes with the wicket of Marx (1) while S. Akter wreaked havoc at the other end, helping to limit the Proteas to 136/8 to win by 13 runs and go 1-0 up in the series.

The action now moves to Kimberley for the second and third T20I, with the next encounter on Wednesday, 06 December at the Kimberley Oval from 18h00.