It was the exciting kind of cricket we usually see in T20 World Cup games, and the Proteas started with a win.

Sri Lanka only hit three boundaries and three sixes during their 115-ball time batting. No surprise that their excited fans, who came to bring some color to the quiet stands on Monday morning in New York, had very little to cheer about. South Africa easily won the first Group D match of the T20 World Cup by 6 wickets.

At the toss, South African captain Aiden Markram described New York’s Nassau County International Stadium pitch as "a little bit of Adelaide, a little bit of Australia." He meant that the pitch had a lot of bounce, but it wasn't the same as the bounce at Adelaide Oval. Subsequently, the ground was wet and unpredictable, the same as the pitches in SA. In those conditions, even the bowlers who didn’t bowl very fast can be very effective.

The white Kookaburra ball moved a little slower, and the four South African fast bowlers used this to their advantage. Pathum Nissanka got out early. Then, Kushal and Kamindu Mendis tried to hit the ball to the boundary during the Powerplay overs but kept failing. When they hit the ball on the ground, the sandy field made it move very slowly, frustrating the batters. In these not-so-great T20 World Cup cricket conditions, Sri Lanka's score was 24/1 after the first six overs, far from the excitement of nearby Manhattan.

SL tried their best, but nothing worked for them. After 10 overs, they could score only 40 runs and gained 5 wickets. Anrich Nortje was the star for SA. During the IPL, Nortje was so expensive that his team, Delhi, had to leave him out. But after 2 weeks of rest and sound sleep, Nortje returned strong. Also, the circumstances were very different from the high–scoring games in the IPL.

Kamindu Mendis tried to hit the ball but didn't do it right and got caught by a fielder. That gave Nortje his first wicket. Then, Keshav Maharaj tricked Wanindu Hasaranga and Sadeera Samarawickrama, and they both got out without scoring any runs. The bowler almost got three wickets in a row, but Nortje had a good morning.

He sometimes bowled slower balls to trick the batters, but mostly used fast, short balls. Kushal Mendis, who scored 19 runs from 30 balls, couldn't time his shots well and eventually lost patience. He tried to hit a fast, short ball from Nortje but hit it high in the air, getting caught at deep fine leg.

After an amazing first spell of 3 overs, giving only 6 runs and taking 3 wickets, Nortje returned to bowl the 16th over. He bowled another fast, short ball and got Angelo Mathews out, leaving Sri Lanka struggling at 70/8.

Even though the other batters tried to hold on, Sri Lanka only scored 77 runs, getting out on the first ball of the 20th over. Nortje ended with his best T20 World Cup figures, taking 4 wickets for just 7 runs in 4 overs. Otteneil Bartman also bowled very well, giving away only 9 runs in his 4 overs and taking 1 wicket. Only three Sri Lankan batters managed to score more than 10 runs.

The SA batsman also found it hard to play and took 16.4 overs to reach the target. Seven more league matches will be played in New York, including three games with India, which attract big crowds. The new pitch has yet to settle, making it hard to score runs. This likely worried the International Cricket Council about New York’s first big cricket event.