T20 World Cup 2024: Experts Unhappy With ‘Terrible’ Drop-In Pitch At New York After Low-Scoring SL Vs SA Clash
New York: Former cricketers lashed out at the ‘terrible’ Nassau County Cricket International Stadium pitch as 157 runs were scored in 35.3 overs at a run rate of 4.4 during the Group D match between South Africa and Sri Lanka on Monday in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Not to forget, this is the same venue where the marquee India vs Pakistan clash will be taking place on June 9.
Batting first, Sri Lanka managed just 77 runs in 19.1 overs with South Africa speedster Anrich Nortje registering the most economical bowling spell in the history of T20 World Cup, as he finished with 4/7 in his four overs. In reply, South Africa took 16.2 overs to chase the target with six wickets in hand. Interestingly, the Proteas managed to score just six boundaries.
Sri Lankan batters looked confused and clueless on the pitch while batting as scoring runs was extremely difficult for both teams on the sluggish track. Apart from the slowness, it also showed signs of uneven bounce. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan wasn’t happy with the conditions on offer, as he described the pitch as ‘not ideal’, while former South Africa performance coach Prassana Agoram called it ‘terrible’.
Not an ideal pitch for t20 cricket.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 3, 2024
On all honesty this is a terrible pitch to host a T20 World Cup match.
— Prasanna (@prasannalara) June 3, 2024
Moreover, the uneven ground at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium received criticism for the poor outfield as well as former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary pointed out how the ball lost pace when batters tried to hit along the ground.
“I say it blatantly: This is unacceptable because if a batter hits a shot along the ground, the ball does not even travel, and that is because the amount of sand used is more. It will be difficult for teams to score runs. It is not possible to hit sixes consistently,” Tiwary told Cricbuzz.
“You have to play some shots along the ground. You will get to see a lot more singles than doubles. This is unacceptable from the ICC because when there is a World Cup going on, and when you had time to prepare for it, they should have made a proper outfield as well,” he said.
The venue is slated to host seven more matches throughout the tournament, including three of India’s with the next being against Ireland on June 5.