South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the first match of the T20 World Cup 2024 played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Monday.
Sri Lanka batted first and had difficulty facing South Africa’s strong bowling attack and were all out for 77 runs. Only three Sri Lankan batsmen were successful in reaching double figures.
Sri Lanka vs South Africa highlights
- Sri Lanka decided to bat first but faced struggles from the start.
- He was the worst performer as he scored only 24 runs in ten overs in the first half of his innings.
- When their score became 40 runs for 5 wickets it became clear that they had big challenges ahead of them.
- South Africa’s bowlers adapted quickly to the conditions and adopted strategies such as bowling fuller deliveries, varying their pace and maintaining concentration.
- Anrich Nortje is South Africa’s key player, who gave his best performance in T20 after returning from a gap of nine months due to stress fracture.
- Nortje’s Outstanding performance included taking 4 wickets for just 7 runs against Sri Lanka. He demonstrated his bowling skills by consistently bowling at speeds of 150 kilometers per hour.
- Nortje received strong support from Ottneil Bartman at the World Cup.
- Bartman’s contribution was notable as he bowled a total of 20 dot balls, equalling the record for most dot balls bowled by a bowler in an innings in a T20 World Cup, equalling Ajantha Mendis’ feat against Zimbabwe in 2012.
Anrich Nortje: Man of the Match T20 World Cup 2024
Anrich Nortje bowled brilliantly against Sri Lanka and won the Player of the Match award by taking 4 wickets for just 7 runs in four overs.
Match Detail: SL Vs SA T20 World Cup 2024
| Match location | Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York) |
| Toss | Sri Lanka |
| Player of the match | Anrich Nortje |
| Umpires | Chris Brown (NZ), Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Paul Reiffel (AUS) |
| Match refereee | Jeff Crowe (NZ) |