Tamim, Taskin combine to roll SA, claim historic series win as hosts ponder World Cup issues

South Africa's automatic path to the 2023 Cricket World Cup hasn't just hit an obstacle, but has firmly run aground after their nine-wicket loss to Bangladesh in the third ODI at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

History will record that Bangladesh has become the third Asian team behind Pakistan and India to win an ODI series in SA and they were deserving.

They reached their target with 141 balls to spare and in that process, given SA their biggest defeat against an Asian team at home.

They played the better cricket in the two matches they won, with Taskin Ahmed's 5/35 and Tamim Iqbal's 87* being the points of difference in a game the visitors dominated from the seventh over onwards.

AS IT HAPPENED | South Africa v Bangladesh, Third ODI

However, the biggest concern will be South Africa's position in the ICC World Cup Super League log, where they're placed ninth on the log with 49 points.

South Africa has Super League engagements against Australia, England, India, and the Netherlands left, but it's up to anyone's imagination now to see whether they'll get any points from those engagements if they can be judged on their poor showing against Bangladesh.

Should they fail to get into the top eight, they'll have to deal with the ignominy of having to take part in the World Cup qualifiers where the bottom five teams in the Super League will have to face three teams from League two (currently Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Scotland) and one each from Challenger League A (Canada) and League B (Uganda) to contest the two remaining World Cup spots.

That path shows the dispiriting low the Proteas have slipped to, especially in ODI cricket where they have yet to win a series in the ODI Super League.

They have lost seven of their 13 matches