Sri Lanka vs South Africa, 4th Match, Group D at New York, T20 World Cup, Jun 03 2024 - Match Result

And with that it's a wrap from us. Here's how the table looks for Group D after this result. Sri Lanka might have been expecting a net run rate pounding after being bowled out for 77, but in the end it's definitely recoverable. But now they have no more margin for error going forward. Their next game will be up against Bangladesh on Saturday, but more immediately we have Afghanistan taking on Uganda in another six hours or so, while tomorrow will also see England taking on Scotland in the late game. Be sure to join us for that, but until then, on behalf of Fidel and the rest of the team this is Madushka signing out!

Aiden Markram: "Yeah happy with the win. The batting was a little up and down, speaks to quite a tough wicket but we found some way to score runs. It's a tough one from a batting perspective. You try to take the pitch out of it, but if the ball misbehaves or there's low bounce, it's just one of those things and hopefully we can take some learnings out of it. [importance of adapting] Lots of different conditions as you move around the tournament. Obviously fortunate that we have our next two games here, so we know what to expect. But important to assess as you move around. [Nortje] Wasn't worried about him, but it's a fantastic day for him. From a mental point of view, he was massively down [with his recent form], so the boys were really happy for him. And hopefully he kicks on for the rest of the tournament.

Wanindu Hasaranga: [right decision to bat first?] Yeah, our batters were looking at 160-170. To be honest this a 120 wicket, especially with our bowlers. [How did you find the pitch?] We went with our bowling strength, that's why we batted first. We wanted to put up a good score and defend it. [Positives] This is early in the tournament, as a team we wanted to do much better especially in the batting. We know we have bowling strength, so if our batters do well we can go further."

Karthik: "Could this game have the most dot balls in a Mens T20I? or all T20s? 74 in SL innings, 52 in SA innings so far." --- It's definitely the most in T20I WC game. 127 out of 214 balls faced by the batters in this game were dots. The previous most was 123 dot balls during SA-IND game in 2007 in Durban and the Oman-Namibia game last night. The most in any T20I is 148 dots between Ireland and Kenya in 2008.

Anrich Nortje is the Player of the Match for his figures of 4 for 7: "It's been a tough few days but we worked really hard. It's just great to get a result and the momentum that goes with it. I'm very happy, been feeling good. It just hasn't paid off in the last few games. But yeah, it's a great result for the team cos it was a tough wicket. Kudos to the team. We didn't know what to expect, we just trying to assess the wicket. I think the boys did really well, especially at the start. So really happy with how it went. Not sure if all the games are going to be like this, so we'll have to keep assessing going forward."

1.36pm So despite some nervy moments South Africa eventually secure a resounding win to kick off their WC campaign in style. On a surface that proved to be two-paced to go with some uneven bounce, Sri Lanka might rue the decision to bat first having won the toss. It was pretty much all downhill from that point on as they struggled to come to terms with the sluggish surface, though credit should go for the South African bowlers who gave the SL batters nothing to work with. With just a target of 78, South Africa then inched their way to victory despite the best efforts of the impressive Lankan bowlers.

Just 6 more needed, and in comes Maheesh Theekshana for a bowl

Sri Lanka chipping away then, but surely there aren't enough runs on the board?