Watch cricket video highlights of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 fourth match between South Africa vs Sri Lanka. Venue of the match will be New York.
In a commanding manner, South Africa claimed their first two points in the T20 World Cup after bowling Sri Lanka out for the lowest total ever in the format and needing to chase 78 runs in 17 overs. We learned more about the conditions at the inaugural official Twenty20 International match played at Eisenhower Park’s freshly constructed stadium than any of the two teams. It’s challenging to bat on this surface because of its uneven bounce, lack of turn, and large, difficult-to-cross square boundaries.
After opting to bat first, Sri Lanka found themselves quickly behind. They scored 40 for 5, their lowest ten-over total, while their powerplay produced just 24 runs. The four-seam approach of South Africa was disciplined, went fuller upfront, altered speed efficiently, and rapidly adjusted to the changing circumstances. Anrich Nortje was their star player, putting on his greatest show since coming back from a stress fracture that kept him out of the international game for over nine months. With a career-best 4 for 7, Nortje demonstrated exceptional pace, reaching speeds of up to 150 kph, and skillfully used the slower ball. Ottneil Baartman, a World Cup rookie, was a great addition to the team. He bowled 20 dot balls in all, which is tied with Ajantha Mendis’ record for the most bowlers in an innings in a T20 World Cup (2012), against Zimbabwe.
Only three Sri Lankan batsmen reached double digits as a consequence of the combined efforts of the South Africans, and just one partnership, Dasun Shanaka and Angelo Mathews’ seventh-wicket stand, was worth more than 20. They will regret missing out on another twenty or thirty runs, as that might have put South Africa in a very difficult situation. In the thirteenth over, with 58 for 4, 100 would have been a difficult ask, but 78 was doable. With 22 balls remaining, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen drove them home. The batters faced 214 balls in this game, and 127 of them were dots—the most number of dots in a Men’s T20 World Cup match.
Baartman is a real-life example of how dreams may come true. He played cricket for ten years in the domestic system without much recognition and even considered quitting to join the South African National Defence Force. However, in the final, Marco Jansen outscored him and was called up to the South African Twenty20 World Cup squad. He had never left South Africa until last month, yet you would never have known if the enormity of the event had taken over him. When Baartman was handed the ball in the fourth over, he noticed the lengths Jansen was using and hit his first ball full and wide. Pathum Nissanka saw an opening to clear deep third, but Heinrich Klaasen got a thick edge, becoming Baartman the first bowler from South Africa, and the 18th overall, to capture a wicket with his first ball in a World Cup.
The stats—11 T20 matches since returning from a stress fracture in March, 40 overs, 449 runs, and nine wickets—might have suggested that selecting Nortje was a gamble, but Rob Walter, the coach, didn’t think so. He supported Nortje’s choice because of his natural speed and capacity for variation, and Nortje amply demonstrated why he was right. After the powerplay, Nortje, who was brought on as the fifth bowler, did what his fellow quicks did and resisted the short ball for longer lengths. Kamindu Mendis attempted to flick him over square leg with his sixth delivery, but the effort lacked force and found Reeza Hendricks instead. Kusal Mendis attempted to clear a ball at 150 kph over the large square boundary, but Tristan Stubbs caught him gazing directly into the sun. Angelo Mathews was hurried into the hook shot and top-edged by Charith Asalanka, who proceeded in the same manner as Kamindu. Nortje completed with perfect 4 for 7 results.
In 2014, Aiden Markram led South Africa to victory in the Under-19 World Cup. Mathews participated in the 2014 T20 World Cup winning Sri Lankan team. And there was something unique about them playing each other in the third over of South Africa’s innings because neither of them, nor their nations, have seen international success since. With length balls on off stump, Mathews managed the exchange before issuing a warning. He discovered a seam movement that struck Markram on the box at a speed of about 120 kph. Markram received the medical treatment he required and handled the following two balls with dignity. Dasun Shanaka came in to replace Mathews after he took a single off the final delivery, ruining what would have been a perfect over. When Shanaka squared Markram up with a ball that sailed away, took the outside edge, and was superbly taken low down by Kusal Mendis at wide first slip, it delivered Sri Lanka the prize they had been waiting for.
With just three fours and three sixes in Sri Lanka’s innings and the same amount from South Africa, there weren’t many to pick from, making the match a) an antidote to the IPL and b) a game of tension-filled old-fashioned slog. What remained vanished when Wanindu Hasaranga was blasted over long-on by Heinrich Klaasen, who was undoubtedly the finest boundary hitter in the competition, and then he hammered straight down the ground for six and then four to virtually conclude the match. South Africa will be hoping to see a lot more of Klaasen’s skill as the tournament progresses, as he demonstrated with those two strokes the strength and quality of the foundation from which he knocks the ball. It was sufficient to ensure victory for today.
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SL Innings
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SA Innings
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