Rahis Khan's Afghanistan's T20 World Cup dream run came to a crashing halt after a controversial semi-final against South Africa. Their coach, Jonathan Trott, heavily criticized the pitch used at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy stadium, calling it unsuitable for a high-stakes match like a World Cup semi-final.
Trott's primary concern was the pitch's behavior. He pointed out the excessive lateral seam movement and inconsistent bounce that made batting extremely difficult. These conditions, according to Trott, created an unfair advantage for the bowlers and severely hampered Afghanistan's batsmen.
Interestingly, the challenging pitch didn't provide a smooth sailing for South Africa either, despite their comfortable victory. Even their batting line-up struggled against the unpredictable bounce and sharp lateral movement, turning their chase into a tense affair that stretched for 8.5 overs
"I don't want to get myself into trouble, and I don't want to come across as bitter or it being a case of sour grapes, but that's not the pitch that you want to have a match, a semi-final of a World Cup on, plain and simple," Trott said at the post-match press conference.
The former England batsman slammed the pitch, claiming it rendered batting skills almost irrelevant in the match
"It should be a fair contest. I'm not saying it should be flat completely with no spin and no seam movement; I'm saying you shouldn't have batsmen worrying about going forward. .They should be confident in foot movement and be able to hit through the line or use their skills. T20 is about attacking and about scoring runs and taking wickets, not looking to survive," he added.
Slow pitches plague T20 World Cup
The batting-friendly pitches of New York might be a thing of the past, but the trend of bowler-dominated surfaces continues in the T20 World Cup. The Providence Stadium in Guyana, also known as Tarouba, has become notorious for its assistance to both fast bowlers (swing and seam) and spinners (turn).
This has resulted in a batter's nightmare, with low-scoring matches becoming the norm. In fact, only one team batting first has managed to score over 100 runs in the five World Cup matches played at this venue. That lone exception was the West Indies, who put up a respectable 149/6 against New Zealand and went on to win the match.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
AFG vs SA: South Africa end Afghanistan's dream run, reach T20 World Cup Final for first time
