South Africa v Sri Lanka 1st T20I – Statistical Highlights

Sri Lanka faced the 4th loss on their tour of South Africa in as many games as they began the T20I series with a 19-run loss in a rain-effected game. South Africa were boosted by David Miller and Farhaan Behardien’s blitz after being put into bat in a 10 overs-a-side fixture at Centurion as the duo took the team to 126/5.

The Sri Lankans kept themselves in the game for most of the part while chasing only till double strikes from Imran Tahir and debutant Lungi Ngidi sealed a victory for the hosts. Here we look at all the stats and records recorded during the game.

0 – Number of players before Mangaliso Masehle got out with a strike-rate of 600 in an international inning. Mangaliso became the first player as he got run-out at the non-striker’s end after hitting his first ball for a six. Overall, he is only the 16th player to have a strike-rate of 600 in an International innings.

1 – Number of players before Mangaliso Masehle who hit the first ball they faced in internationals for a six. Mangaliso hit the first ball he faced in internationals for a six. New Zealand’s Mark Craig got off to a similar start while batting in a Test.

Also read- SA v SL 1st T20I Review: Miller, Ngidi win it for the Proteas in a rain marred tie

2 – Mangaliso Masehle became the 2nd player after Sohail Tanvir to hit the first ball he faced in T20Is for a six. Tanvir faced his first ball in T20Is in the WT20 final in 2007 vs India where he hit a six on the very first ball.

3 – Thikshila de Silva became the 3rd Sri Lankan to be dismissed for a golden duck on T20I debut. Mahela Jayawardene and Nuwan Pradeep bagged a golden duck on their respective T20I debuts in 2006 and 2016 against England at Southampton.

3 – Number of bowlers including Lungi Ngidi who bowled the first over of the innings for South Africa on T20I debut. Shaun Pollock and Kyle Abbott are the other two. Ngidi’s figures of 2/12 are the best among the three.

5 – Number of South African players who made their T20I debut in this game. These are the most for South Africa in a game in last 10 years. They had 6 different players making their T20I debut in 2006 in two games.

15.43 – Balls taken for every six in T20Is at Super Sport Park at Centurion, the 3rd best balls/six rate at a venue in this format. (Min: 200 overs bowled)

31* – Farhaan Behardien’s 31* is the 3rd highest score by a South African player in his first T20I as captain. Only Graeme Smith (61) & Faf du Plessis (38*) scored more than Behardien in their first game as South Africa’s T20I captain.

51 – Number of T20I matches Heino Kuhn missed out since his last appearance, the joint 5th most games missed between two T20Is by a player. Among South Africans, MN van Wyk missed 35 T20Is between 2011 and 2015 which is the previous most.

206 – Number of International games Heino Kuhn missed out for South Africa since his last appearance, the 2nd most games missed by a player between his two matches for South Africa. Errol Stewart missed 302 games between 1994 and 2002.

94/2 – The previous highest team total in a 10 or fewer overs-a-side game in T20Is was 94/2 by Bangladesh in 8 overs vs Ireland in 2016 WT20 qualification stage. Both the teams scored more than 100 runs in this game.

126/5 – South Africa’s total of 126/5 is the highest team total in a 10-a-over side game in overall T20s. No team managed to post 120 or more in a 10-a-over side T20I.

233 – Runs scored by both the teams in this game, the most in a 10 or fewer overs-a-side T20I games. New Zealand vs Scotland T20I in 2009 seen 179 runs in 13 overs (7 overs-a-side).