New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka, 1st T20, Florida

It's been a marquee week for cricket: first, England won the World Cup final against Australia; then on Saturday, Florida was the site of the inaugural match between two Test-playing countries in the United States. New Zealand and Sri Lanka had the honor of breaking hallowed new ground at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, the only purpose-built cricket stadium in America.

Dan Vettori chose to bat first upon winning the toss, and the first surprise was the slow and low nature of the pitch. Brendon McCullum scooped a boundary and a six before falling to a great Angelo Mathews catch, and the Kiwis soon found themselves at 37/2 in the 7th over. Scoring did not come easily, as Ross Taylor was run out for a gritty 27 off 30 balls. Martin Guptill was bowled by Ajantha Mendis off a good length ball that hit the bottom of middle stump, such was the lack of life in the pitch. New Zealand eventually scraped their way to a very par score of 120/7, with Daniel Vettori using well-run singles and doubles to ensure that his bowlers would have a target to defend. Mendis was the pick of the bowlers, with his 4-1-18-2 ensuring that the first international cricket match on American soil would not be an IPL-like run-orgy.

But the Black Cap bowlers were up to the task themselves. Kyle Mills removed Mahela Jayawardene and Tillekerate Dilshan in quick succession to put the Sri Lankans behind the 8-ball. Angelo Mathews counterattacked, but Kumar Sangakkara holed out trying to accelerate the scoring. Scott Styris dismissed Mathews (27) and Chamara Kapugedera off the next ball to put Sri Lanka at 63/5. He missed out on getting the first hat-trick in America, but took Thissara Perera's wicket to effectively knock Sri Lanka out of the game. With the required run-rate increasing, Nuwan Kulasekera was acrobatically run out by McCullum, and none of the Sri Lankan bowlers were able to make an impact with the bat. Ajantha Mendis was bowled in the final over, as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 92 to give New Zealand a comfortable victory 28 runs. 

So cricket's first real venture into the final frontier proved an underwhelming, but still entertaining, affair. The pitch never gave anything for the Black Caps or Sri Lankans to play with, and New Zealand Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan remarked on-air that that some groundwork needed to be done for attractive and inviting cricket to be made. The fans in attendance probably wouldn't have minded so much, for the simple reason that they were watching their heroes play for first international cricket game in America. The cricket purist wouldn't have minded this match - low-scoring encounters have a drama of their own - but as an advertisement for cricket, only two 6s being hit in the match left a little to be desired. Still, a start is a start, and while the first match may not have blown the American roof off, it's opened the door.