Proteas bowlers starting T20 World Cup brightly was essential for the SA side

The Proteas started their T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and the Caribbean with a peculiar but comfortable enough six-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Monday evening.

Heading into the tournament, the focus was on South Africa’s bowlers and their ability to back up their swashbuckling batters.

But the conditions at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Monday served up the ideal platform for the Proteas bowlers to find their groove early.

South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for their lowest-ever total in T20 cricket — 77.

The wicket proved a massive hindrance to free-flowing strokeplay, as the movement off the deck was unpredictable and uneven. The outfield not only featured long square boundaries but a lush covering of grass, making fours hit along the ground a rarity.

The entire square, including the wicket that was played on last night, was prepared in Adelaide in Australia and then shipped to Florida in the US before being transported and installed at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

With very little match practice on the wicket — outside of a few warm-up games — there was uncertainty about how the pitch would play, which made Sri Lankan captain Wanindu Hasaranga’s decision to bat first on an unknown surface particularly strange.

It did play into South Africa’s hands, however, as they made the subcontinent side toil for runs in their batting opportunity.

First restricting them to 24 runs with one wicket down in the powerplay before bowling them out for 77 in the final over of their innings.

The Proteas celebrate the dismissal of Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, 3 June 2024. (Photo: Richard Huggard / Gallo Images)

Best figures

South Africa’s star bowler of the day, Anrich Nortje, certainly had no complaints about conditions.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the wicket, it’s nice for the bowlers,” Nortje said, who took four wickets and only conceded seven runs — the best-ever figures by a South African at a World Cup.

“We’re also allowed to get some sort of assistance.

“Yes, it’s different to what guys are used to for the last few months or years. There’s a little bit more in it for the bowlers. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

“When it is flat, people want to see sixes so the wheels should turn a little bit somewhere.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Nortje and fellow bowlers lead Proteas to comfortable opening T20 World Cup win over Sri Lanka

“I don’t know what to expect in the next few weeks. It might get a little bit flatter, it might get a little bit slower [or] faster, who knows.

“Our biggest thing is just to adapt to whatever gets thrown in front of us in the next game again.”

Kagiso Rabada of the Proteas celebrates the dismissal of Dasun Shanaka of Sri Lanka during the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, 3 June 2024. (Photo: Richard Huggard / Gallo Images)

The South African bowlers were near perfect as a collective, with Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj collecting two scalps each.

Ottniel Baartman chipped in with one and Marco Jansen was tidy without getting any success in the wickets column.

Ottniel Baartman of the Proteas celebrates the dismissal of Pathum Nissanka of Sri Lanka during their T20 World Cup match at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, 3 June 2024. (Photo: Richard Huggard / Gallo Images)

New challenge

The tough batting conditions and the low-scoring match are a far cry from what has become expected in the shortest format of the game in recent times.

The Indian Premier League, in particular, saw a record number of team scores in excess of 200 this season.

But Nortje believes those high scores are nearly impossible to achieve with the conditions provided in New York.

​​“It was never going to be like that on that wicket,” he said.

“There was a lot more in it for the bowlers, there was a lot more bounce, a little bit of variation as well — one or two balls staying lower.

“Different bowlers getting different results out of the wicket.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to take a hell of an effort to get to 250 or 200 even.

“I thought the boys bowled really well. To be chasing more runs on that wicket would have become tougher and tougher as it went along.

“Well done to the guys who opened and in the middle phase as well to knock the runs off as quickly as possible.”

South Africa’s batters, having also struggled on the up-and-down wicket eventually chased the score down in 16.2 overs.

While the explosive batting lineup hasn’t been given an opportunity to shine yet, it’s good news for the Proteas that the bowlers have their tails up early in the tournament. DM