Anrich Nortje took career-best figures as South Africa began their campaign with a win, rolling Sri Lanka for their lowest T20 score
Sri Lanka have been blown away for a record low 77 en route to a six-wicket defeat to South Africa in both teams’ T20 World Cup opener in New York.
South Africa overcame their own hiccups on the two-paced pitch to cross the finish line with 3.4 overs to spare, reaching 4-80 at the purpose-built Nassau County Stadium on Long Island.
South Africa’s best bowling performance in tournament history included speedster Anrich Nortje’s career-best 4-7 (the most economical four overs in men’s T20 World Cups), Kagiso Rabada’s 2-21, spinner Keshav Maharaj’s 2-22, and fast bowler Ottneil Baartman’s 1-9 in his second T20 international.
“It was a tough wicket to bat on, (so) just happy we could restrict them to a chasable score and to get it a soon as we did,” Nortje said.
Opener Kusal Mendis top scored for Sri Lanka with 19, one of only three to reach double figures.
The Sri Lankans were dismissed in 19.1 overs for their lowest ever total in T20s and the 13th lowest score in T20 World Cup history.
Skipper Wanindu Hasaranga took 2-22 but South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen kept a calm head to finish off proceedings for the Proteas with an unbeaten 19.
“We did well to restrict them to a low score,” player-of-the-match Nortje said. “It was an up-and-down wicket, so it was important to get early wickets. These drop-in pitches are tough to bowl on.”
Sri Lanka opted to bat first and misread the variable bounce on a pitch that had been grown in Florida and trucked to New York State before being laid in recent weeks.
“To be honest this was a 120-run wicket, especially with our bowlers,” Hasaranga said. “We went with our strength, bowling, and that’s why we batted first.
“We have three more games and we want to do much better, especially with our batting.”
While the match featured the lowest run-rate in a men’s T20 World Cup at only 4.2 runs per over, India managed 5-182 from their 20 overs in a warm-up match against Bangladesh at the same venue two days earlier.
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