On June 3, Sri Lanka and South Africa squared off in the first-ever Twenty20 International (T20I) match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, the site of the highly anticipated India-Pakistan match on June 9, 2024. This was a much anticipated match because of the great batting lineups of both sides and the nature of the 20-over format. Many anticipated an exciting and spectacular contest with a high scoring total—perhaps not quite as high as most IPL 2024 games, but close to it.
It turned out that the contest went very differently than expected. After the Proteas put the Sri Lankans in to bat, they were completely bewildered and managed only 24 runs in the powerplay, even though they only lost one wicket (Pathum Nissanka in the fourth over). The innings did not progress much for the remaining batters. Kusal Mendis, the wicketkeeper-batsman, and Kamindu Mendis, the number three, combined for just thirty runs off forty-five deliveries.
Because of its erratic bounce, the drop-in pitch made it very difficult for hitters to settle down and gain momentum. The slow outfield made it challenging for even well-placed strokes to cross the boundary, further exacerbating their issues. Even though the total was somewhat respectable thanks to a couple of maximums from Angelo Mathews and a six from Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka eventually fell for a meagre 77 runs in 19.1 overs. As South Africa’s third substitute bowler, Anrich Nortje stood out for his team, recording career-best figures of 4/7 in his quota.
Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: SL vs SA Match 4 Highlights
After the first innings, Irfan Pathan, a former cricket player turned pundit and the World Cup champion of the first edition of the major event, went to X to express his dissatisfaction with the pitch in New York, saying it was completely unfit for T20 cricket in every manner.
Not an ideal pitch for t20 cricket.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 3, 2024
Sri Lanka wasn’t the only team that suffered greatly; South Africa also had major difficulties on their route to a six-wicket victory. Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, and Quinton de Kock were a few of the prominent fighters. In all, they faced 77 deliveries in the run-chase, but only scored 16 runs within the boundaries between them.
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