It was an uncanny game in New York as Sri Lanka and South Africa played out their first game in the ICC World T20 in the United States and the Caribbean. Whilst the favorites going into the game, South Africa was never really threatened by the lackluster Sri Lankan side, the pitch and the conditions did play their part.
By the end of it, South Africa walked away with their first win of the tournament, and Sri Lanka was handed a rather comprehensive defeat. Pundits would have called this result ahead of the game. But there is a lot to take away from the losing side, South Africa will also have a few questions, notably on managing the conditions in adapting to less batsman-friendly pitches.
Sri Lanka – An Innings that Never Took Off
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It was a strange outing for both sides at Eisenhower Park. The pitch turned out to be something of a mystery for both teams, who struggled to get into the flow of things. Sri Lanka who batted first, having won the toss, but then could never settle into the conditions. In addition to not getting the ball away to the boundaries, kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
The pitch with somewhat uneven bounce, was quickly exploited by the pace-heavy South African attack. Aided by some large square boundaries that the Sri Lankan batsman struggled to clear. The wicket of Kamindu Mendis who caught at the boundary having attempted a flick shot, for 11 was notable in this regard.
The trouble for Sri Lanka is that none of the top order batsman were able to come to terms with the pitch and the conditions and the South African bowlers, notably, Anrich Nortje had a great outing in restricting the Sri Lankans and picked up 4 wickets for just 7 runs in his allotted 4 overs. Having been reduced 5-40 in the 10th over, the innings went nowhere.
South Africa – Not So Impressive but Good Enough
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Chasing a score of 78 it was South Africa’s game to lose, and fortunately for them, they went about it reasonably well. But like in the Sri Lankan innings scoring was slow. Very slow. After losing Reza Hendricks early, the innings crawled forward with top-order players managing 10+ scores, scoring welling below run-a-ball.
But that was fine given the conditions and the score. In addition to Tristan Stubbs, who scored a laborious 13 off 28, the players did their part to ensure that South Africa got passed the finish line. The positives for South Africa were obviously in the bowling department. Led by Anrich Nortje who put to rest questions regarding his form and pace with a splendid performance.
And with Sri Lanka down, that is one of the two major teams in the Group out of the way. The other is Bangladesh, against who the Proteas will fancy their chances with the team they have. And since the team will be playing a few more games on this pitch, this is good match practice going forward in the tournament.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma Contemplates T20 World Cup Batting Order After India’s Warm-Up Triumph
About the Author
Damian Thar writes on a range of topics. In addition to his professional work, he writes essays on subjects like philosophy, history, and culture. He also writes and edits books and in his free time, he makes YouTube videos on topics like religion, theology, and current events. You can find his work here.
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