First T20 international
South Africa 126/5
Sri Lanka 107/6
SA won by 19 runs
CENTURION – This opening T20 International may have been reduced by half and started two-and-a-half hours late, owing to thundershowers, but the packed house here still thoroughly enjoyed themselves and could head home with smiles on their faces thanks to an energetic win by a youthful Proteas line-up.
South Africa chose five debutants – Jon-Jon Smuts, Mangaliso Mosehle, Theunis de Bruyn, Andile Phehlukwayo and Lungi Ngidi – in a side captained for the first time by Farhaan Behardien.
Sri Lanka chose to bowl after Angelo Mathews won the toss, relying on this venue’s reputation as a ground where it’s better to chase.
There was no need for craft or subtlety once the game started. Sri Lanka’s bowling, with the exception of Asela Gunaratne, wasn’t much good – they bowled too many short balls and half volleys – but South Africa’s approach regardless of what the tourists dished up was to pound them.
First came Heino Kuhn (10 off six balls with two fours), then Smuts (13 off 8), with one glorious hit for six over the covers.
De Bruyn employed some classic strokes, one delightful cover drive off leg-spinner Seekuge Prassana, but the shot of his innings was a disdainful clip off the hips that finished sans a follow-through, but the ball still flew fully 15 metres over the boundary.
As innings of just 19 go, De Bruyn’s was a lovely one to watch.
At the heart of the Proteas’ effort was a 51-run partnership between Miller and Behardien off 27 balls.
Proteas captain Farhaan Behardien reached 31 not out off 18 deliveries against Sri Lanka. Photo: Christiaan Kotze, BackpagePix
Miller was typically merciless stroking some gorgeous shots in an innings of 40 which came off 18 balls, and included a trio of sixes along with three fours.
Sticking to his strengths, he smashed the ball magnificently straight down the ground, though his downfall came that way too when he mistimed one and was caught on the long-on boundary.
Behardien finished not out on 31, his innings also lasting 18 balls (3x4, 1x6), the latter a savage blow in the final over of the innings.
The bowling largely didn’t matter, although Gunaratne deserves credit for not conceding a boundary off his 12 deliveries.
The Sri Lankan reply started in effervescent fashion thanks to Niroshan Dickwella, who smashed his way to 43 from just 19 balls.
There were half-a-dozen fours and one six, and his opening 59-run partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva gave the tourists a strong foothold in their pursuit.
But as has become customary for South Africa in the limited-overs formats in the last six years, Imran Tahir intervened, making a crucial breakthrough by dismissing Dickwella, which proved a decisive moment in the game.
He’d get rid of De Silva too, also in the sixth over, giving South Africa total control.
No other Sri Lankan batsman was capable of creating any momentum and Lungi Ngidi’s second over – the eighth of the innings – saw the Proteas virtually wrap up the game.
Lungi Ngidi took 2/12 in two overs on his Proteas debut on Friday night. Photo: Muzi Ntombela, BackpagePix
Ngidi claimed two wickets, Prassana and Kusal Mendis, and conceded just four runs, finishing with figures of 2/12 from his allotted two overs to be chosen as the Man of the Match.
The second T20 International in the three-game series is at the Wanderers on Sunday.