South Africa v Sri Lanka, 1st T20I - 5 Talking Points

After a one-sided affair in the Tests, the action moved to the shortest format of the game. The visiting team Sri Lanka were against an upbeat new look South Africa lineup. Sri Lanka had failed miserably in the Test series and were hoping to turn the tables around in T20Is. A plethora of youngsters and debutants lined up in the Proteas playing eleven. The Sri Lankans, on the other hand, had a mixed bag of experience on their platter for the match. The stage was set at Centurion for the first of the 3 matches of the series.

Much to the disappointment of the packed stadium came the rains. After over a couple of hours of the game being lost, action finally got underway in 10-overs a side encounter. Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first in the rain-curtailed match. The senior players in the Proteas line-up ensured that a big score was on the board for then. Behardien and David Miller helped South Africa post a humongous 126 in just 10 overs. Here are the 5 Talking points from the match:

1. Rain plays the delay game

It was a full house at the Supersport Park in Centurion for the first T20 international of the season. The crowds came in hoping for an exciting 20 over cracker. However, the rain gods had some other plans. The nnewly-appointedProteas skipper Farhaan Behardien had to wait an additional couple of hours before officially walking out for the toss as the South African captain.

The match was delayed by a couple of hours before the rains finally subsided. The groundsmen did a fantastic job with the super soppers to get the conditions play ready. Despite all their efforts, a full game could not be putforth for the fans. The match was cut short to a 10 overs a side affair.

2. Proteas field 5 debutants, top order fails

Prior to the commencement of the series, it was expected that the Proteas will surely draft in a wholesale debutants in their lineup. As many as 6 uncapped players were named in the squad. 5 of them managed to earn their international caps on the day. JJ Smuts, Heino Kuhn, Theunis de Bruyn, Mangaliso Mosehle and Lungi Ngidi were the 5 new faces in the line up.

For the Sri Lanka team, batsmen Thikshila de Silva earned his cap for the match. Coming in to the game, the South African batters were expected to go all guns blazing after being put into bat in the 10 overs match. The top three did just that but none could succeed in their effort. Smuts, Kuhn and de Bruyn all managed to get starts but none could go past the 20 run mark.

3. Senior men get the act right

For the first time in his international career, David Miller found himself to be the most experienced batsmen in the lineup. The senior southpaw did not disappoint one bit. He finished as the top scorer for the Proteas with 40 runs to his name in just 18 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes.

Miller was belligerent in his approach and left no stone unturned to take a toll on the Sri Lanka bowlers. Skipper Farhaan Behardien had a good match as captain too. He finished on unbeaten 31 off 18 balls with 3 fours and a six. Their combined effort saw South Africa post a huge 126/5 in their stipulated 10 overs.

4. Dickwella-de Silva get off to a flashy start

Chasing something as big as 127 in 10 overs the Sri Lankans needed a kick start from their openers and Niroshan Dickwella and Dhananjaya de Silva were up for the task. They got the big shots going from the very first over and South Africa were hit hard right at the start.

They were pretty comfortable hitting the pacers away also with the field restriction in place for the first three overs. Dickwella fired six boundaries and a couple of fours on his way to 43 from just 19 balls his partner had just scored 16 runs in the partnership that lasted 5.1 overs but gave them the much-needed push.

5. Wickets galore

After a flier of a start, the Sri Lankans looked pretty well set for an upset against the Proteas who put up a huge total on the board with the asking rate at almost 13 before the first ball was bowled. After the pacers failed to make an initial impact skipper Farhaan Behardien brought in the leggie Imran Tahir.

He not only changed the pace of the game but the momentum as well. He sent back both the openers in a matter of 5 balls to get South Africa back in the game. Wayne Parnell then removed skipper Angelo Mathews before he could do much of a damage and Aaron Phangiso also chipped in with the wicket of Thikshila de Silva. Lungi Ngidi then bowled a superb spell – he bowled his two overs for just 12 runs and got two wickets of Seekkuge Prasanna and Kusal Mendis and bagged the game for his team.