South Africa crushed Sri Lanka by 77 to secure a six-wicket victory in the T20 World Cup match in New York. Anrich Nortje took four wickets as the Proteas began their quest for their first World Cup win – Watch England v Scotland live on Tuesday on Sky Sports (first ball at 3.30pm)
Monday 3 June 2024, 20:00 BST
In the first ever T20 World Cup in New York, South Africa outplayed Sri Lanka, scoring the lowest score in a T20 international match with 77 to secure a six-wicket victory.
Proteas fast bowler Anrich Nortje took 4-7 in his four overs at Long Island and was bowled out in just the 19th over as slow-scoring Sri Lanka surprisingly chose to bat on a drop-in pitch.
South Africa had fallen to 23 for 2 after five overs of fighting back on an extremely difficult court and should have made it 23 for 3 when Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis, who had earlier top-scored with 19, felled Tristan Stubbs for not out.
Aiden Markram’s Proteas reached the target with 22 balls to spare in a chase that was devoid of fireworks, with Heinrich Klaassen (19 not hit off 22 balls) and David Miller (6 not hit) being the unbeaten batsmen who hit the winning boundaries.
Sri Lanka, the world T20 champions a decade ago, struggled with their batting despite some admittedly impressive bowling, slowly leading to 24 for 1 at the end of the powerplay before plummeting to 46 for 6 after 12 overs.
Their poor form included the loss of three wickets for one run, with South African spinner Keshav Maharaj (2-22) striking twice with the same ball in the ninth innings to get Sri Lankan captain Wanindu Hasaranga and Sadeera Samarawickrama out for ducks.
Seamer Ottoniel Baartman took 1-9 from his four overs in Nassau, including 20 dot balls, at a run-rate more akin to an old-fashioned Test match than a modern T20 encounter.
South Africa have many powerful batsmen but they also struggled to score runs, with Markram’s superb lofted cover drive for a six being one of just two boundaries they scored in the first seven overs.
Quinton de Kock (20 off 27) launched Angelo Mathews into the stands at deep square leg in the eighth over and then lobbed a simple catch back to leg-spinner Hasaranga for third man in the 11th over.
South Africa were four behind and still needing 20 in the 13th over when Stubbs (13 off 28) was caught sharply at cover by Charisse Asaranka off a Hasrulanga ball, but Klaassen and Miller steered the team to victory.
South Africa are yet to reach a World Cup final in either the 50-over or 20-over formats, and seven semi-final losses across the two tournaments have earned the Proteas the unwanted label of “chokers”.
The tournament’s Group D also includes Sri Lanka and South Africa as well as Nepal, Bangladesh and the Netherlands, with Nepal and the Netherlands facing off in Dallas on Tuesday (kick-off at 4.30pm).
What’s next?
South Africa They will face the Netherlands in New York on Saturday, June 8th at 3:30pm. Sri Lanka Earlier that same morning, they will face Bangladesh in Dallas (1:30 a.m.).
Eoin Morgan, Naser Hussain and Urooj Mumtaz join Ian Ward to talk about their dream T20 World Cup XI.
Defending champion England be against Scotland Tuesday (1st ball at 3:30 p.m.) in Barbados Ireland They will face 2007 champions India in New York on Wednesday (also at 3:30 pm).
You can watch every match of the Men’s T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from now until the 29th.
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