Anrich Nortje was back to his hostile best, and South Africa blew away Sri Lanka by six wickets in a low-scoring Group D match of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup yesterday in the United States on Sunday.
The 30-year-old fast bowler, on the comeback trail following hip and back injuries, grabbed a career-best four for seven from his allotted four overs and led the demolition of the Sri Lankans for their lowest T20 International (T20I) total of 77 in 19.1 overs on a lively pitch at the modular Nassau County Stadium.
The South Africans also struggled on the drop-in pitch that was prepared in the American state of Florida before being shipped to the match venue at Eisenhower Park in Long Island, but they reached their target of 78 with six wickets and 22 balls remaining.
A lot more bounce
“There’s a lot more in it for the bowlers,” Nortje said about the pitch. “I thought there was a lot more bounce, a little bit of variation as well. One or two balls staying lower, different bowlers getting different, sort of results out the wicket.
“At the end of the day, it’s really going to be a [big] effort to get to 250 or 200 even, so I thought the boys bowled really well. To be chasing more runs on that wicket would have become tougher and tougher as we go along.”
He added: “I think the biggest thing is just to get the result for the team. It’s not about personal performances. To get a career-best is nice, but it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day unless the team is winning, so I’m very happy for the team as well.
“I think every bowler bowled really well, and for the guys to be scoring to get their answer as quickly as we did on a tough-ish wicket or on a very tough wicket was great to see because it might just get worse or it might just get harder, not worse – but it might get harder in the next few weeks or it might get a little bit easier and then we as bowlers have to adapt again.”
Slumped to 40 for five at the halfway stage
The Sri Lankans did well to reach 24 for one at the end of the Power Play after they chose to bat, but they slumped to 40 for five at the halfway stage, and they were never able to mount a serious comeback; no batsman reached 20.
Strike bowler Kagiso Rabada and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, both returning to the Proteas side after they missed the three T20Is against West Indies last month in Jamaica because of illness and Indian Premier League commitments respectively, ended with two wickets apiece to complete the demolition.
Left-handed opener Quinton De Kock defied a double strike from Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga, twirling his leg-spin, and topped all batsmen in the match with an even 20 and enabled South Africa to inch to their target.
