NEW YORK: South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in their T20 World Cup opener here on Monday.
The Proteas first restricted Sri Lanka to 77 in 19.1 overs, the Islanders’ lowest total in T20 cricket, with Nortje coming up with envious figures of 4/7 in four overs. Opener Kusal Mendis was the top-scorer for Sri Lanka with 19 off 30 balls.
The Aiden Markram-led side then notched up the required runs with the loss of four wickets at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 77 all out in 19.1 overs (Kusal Mendis 19; Anrich Nortje 4/7, Keshav Maharaj 2/22).
South Africa: 80 for 4 in 16.2 overs (Quinton de Kock 20, Heinrich Klaasen 19 not out; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/22).
Island Batted First
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat against South Africa in their T20 World Cup opener.
Teams:
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (w), Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman.
Nortje Exceptional Performance
Anrich Nortje demolished Sri Lanka with career-best figures of 4/7 as South Africa exploited the bounce on offer to secure a six-wicket win in their T20 World Cup opener.
At a venue where India will play three of their four Group A league matches, Sri Lanka’s decision to bat first backfired.
Nortje, Kagiso Rabada (2/21) and Keshav Maharaj (2/22) combined to take eight wickets in a dominant bowling performance as Sri Lanka folded up for 77 in 19.1 overs, their lowest T20 total.
But it was not a walk in the park for South Africa in the challenging conditions of Nassau Stadium as the Proteas had to sweat it out after Sri Lanka reduced them to 27/2 inside the powerplay.
Sri Lankan wrist spinner Wanindu Hasaranga led their bowling show with his 2/17 from three overs, taking the wickets of Quinton De Kock (20) and Tristan Stubbs (13) in successive overs.
But the lack of scoreboard pressure meant South Africa knocked off the target in 16.2 overs to get a major boost to their net run-rate.
South Africa now has two points with an NRR of 1.048 to lead the Group D standings. Bangladesh, Nepal and the Netherlands are the other teams in the group.
The in-form Heinrich Klaasen smashed Hasaranga for a massive six-over long-on and followed it up with a straight boundary to bring up 11 runs in the 15th over and virtually kill the contest.
Nuwan Thusara drew the first blood for Sri Lanka in the second over when he induced an outside edge from Reeza Hendricks with an outswinger.
Mathews then gave Aiden Markram a tough time and also hit the South African skipper awkwardly in the abdomen region which required some medical attention.
A spectacular six through covers from Markram broke the shackles but he was out the next over from Dasun Shanaka with Kamindu Mendis pulling off a stunning catch at slip.
Nortje bowled full tilt to lead the four-pronged pace attack and bettered his previous best T20 figures of 4/10.
Kagiso Rabada returned with 2/21, while wily left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj also relished the conditions to end up with 2/22.
The drop-in pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium proved to be a nightmare for the Lankan batters who struggled to time the ball while the outfield too was slow.
The Proteas attack, on the other hand, revelled in the friendly conditions, beginning with a first-ball wicket for Ottneil Baartman who returned with remarkable figures of 1/9 on his World Cup debut.
The rookie pacer hit the deck hard, and induced an edge off Pathum Nissanka (3) from a fullish delivery that swung away and also had some bounce.
Nortje was fast and furious and also got a wicket off his first over when Kamindu Mendis mistimed a pull to make it 31/2 inside eight overs.
There was also help for spinners, as Maharaj struck twice in successive deliveries, dismissing skipper Wanindu Hasaranga and Sadeera Samarawickrama.
Half of the side was back in the hut at the midway mark with Nortje taking his second after Kusal Mendis mistimed a pull.
Veteran Angelo Mathews looked most comfortable and made a 16-ball 16 before Nortje dismissed him for his fourth scalp.
Nuwan Thushara’s run-out ended their innings in 19.1 overs.
Record Prize
The International Cricket Council on Monday announced a record prize purse of USD 11.25 million for the 2024 T20 World Cup with the winners pocketing at least USD 2.45 million.
The runners-up will receive at least USD 1.28 million, while the losing semi-finalists walk away with USD 787,500 each.
The previous edition in 2022 had a total prize pool of USD 5.6 million with winners England receiving USD 1.6 million.
“The ninth edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will see the winners of the 20-team tournament earn at least $2.45 million, the highest prize money in the history of the tournament, along with the trophy that they will lift at Kensington Oval in Barbados on 29 June,” said the ICC in a statement.
The four teams that fail to make it out of the Super 8s will earn USD 382,500 each, while the teams placed ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th receive USD 247,500 each. Participants who finish 13th to 20th place will return $225,000 each.
“And every team receives an additional $31,154 for each match they win barring the semi-finals and final,” the sport’s governing body added.
The 55-match event will be played over 28 days, across nine venues in the West Indies and USA, making it the biggest T20 World Cup ever. A record 20 teams are participating in the competition including first-timers USA, Canada and Uganda.
The format of this year’s tournament will see 40 first-round matches played before the top eight progress to the Super 8s. Four teams will then qualify for the semi-finals, which will be staged in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, ending with the final in Barbados.
“This event is historic in so many ways so it is fitting that the prize money for players reflects that. Hundreds of millions of fans worldwide will be entertained by the players in what we’re hoping to be an Out of This World event,” said ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice.
Rahul Dravid Retiring
Rahul Dravid on Monday confirmed that the T20 World Cup will be his last tournament as head coach of the Indian cricket team.
Dravid’s announcement was anticipated as he was not expected to reapply for the high-profile job after the BCCI invited the applications last month.
Speaking to reporters ahead of India’s World Cup opener against Ireland, Dravid said he enjoyed every bit of his coaching tenure.
“Every tournament is important. Every game that I’ve coached for India has been very important for me. So for me this is no different just because it is going to be the last one that I’m in charge of,” he said when asked if this tournament held more significance as it was his last one in charge of the team.
The former India captain had taken charge of the team in November 2021 following the T20 World Cup that year.
“I love doing the job. I’ve really enjoyed coaching India and I think it’s a truly special job to do. I enjoyed working with this team and it’s a great bunch of boys to work with but yeah but just considering you know unfortunately just the kind of schedules and where I find myself in the stage in my life I don’t think I’ll be able to reapply.
“So yeah, obviously it’ll be my last one but having said that it’s no different for me to be very honest. From the first day I took the job, I always felt that every game was important and every game mattered and that will not change,” he asserted.
India will be aiming to win an elusive ICC trophy here and provide a perfect farewell for the coach.
