T20 World Cup 2024: SL vs SA Match 4 Highlights: Unmissable video recap, turning points, match analysis, stats, and more

Cricket South Africa. (Photo Source: ICC)

South Africa registered a not-so-convincing win on Monday, June 3, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, as they got the better of a hapless Sri Lankan side.

The Lankan skipper Wanindu Hasaranga won the toss in the newly built stadium and surprisingly opted to bat first. The talismanic leg-spinner said that the Lankan Lions wanted to post a good total on the board. However, they had a terrible powerplay, scoring just 24 runs and losing the wicket of the highly skilled Pathum Nissanka. Kamindu Mendis and Kusal Mendis were quite reserved in their approach and stitched an 18-run partnership off 28 balls. From 31/1 in 7.4 overs, the former champions were bowled out for 77 with five balls left in the innings.

Ottniel Baartman bowled an exceptional spell on his World Cup debut, finishing with figures of 1/9 in his four overs. He picked the wicket of Nissanka off his first ball. Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada bagged two wickets apiece but Anrich Nortje was the pick of the bowlers. The tearaway speedster had a disappointing Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign but delivered for his country. He accounted for four wickets and conceded just seven runs in his four overs.

South Africa potter to victory with attritional cricket

The Proteas were chasing a paltry target of 78 and many would have expected them to come out all guns blazing and wrap up the game in a jiffy. However, they scratched and clawed their way to victory as Sri Lankan bowlers didn’t give them too many freebies. The pitch also was quite difficult for batting as it was two-paced and had variable bounce.

Nuwan Thushara struck in the second over, sending back Reeza Hendricks for four. In the fifth over, skipper Aiden Markram was dismissed by Dasun Shanaka, who bowled three overs and conceded just six runs. Quinton de Kock played an uncharacteristically slow innings of 20, consuming 27 balls. Hasaranga got the better of the experienced batter in his first over. Tristan Stubbs looked totally off-colour as he huffed and puffed to 13 off 28 balls, getting out to Hasaranga in the 13th over with 20 runs still to get.

In the end, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller put on a watchful 22-run stand off 21 balls to take their team to victory in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Here are some highlights from the Sri Lanka vs South Africa match: