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Cricket Players'Don't want to get myself into trouble, but...': Afghanistan coach demands 'fair contest' after South Africa thrashing
South Africa produced a dominant performance in the T20 World Cup semi-final, defeating Afghanistan by 9 wickets.
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott has lambasted the pitch used for their T20 World Cup semifinal against South Africa, declaring it unfit for a contest of such magnitude. The game, held at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy stadium, saw Afghanistan bowled out for just 56 runs, marking the lowest score in a T20 World Cup semifinal.
Trott's criticisms were directed at the pitch's lateral seam movement and inconsistent bounce, which he asserted created unfair conditions for batters.
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Despite South Africa managing to chase down the target in 8.5 overs, their batters also faced significant difficulties on the challenging pitch. The inconsistent bounce and lateral movement made shot-making precarious, leading to a tense and scrappy run chase.
"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 batter said the pitch took batting completely out of the game.
"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," he explained.
"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."
Sluggish surfaces in T20 World Cup
While the pitches in New York gained significant criticism for being too titled in favour of the bowlers, Tarouba had also been notorious for offering significant swing and seam to pacers, and considerable turn to spinners.
These conditions proved to be a nightmare for batters, contributing to low-scoring games. Remarkably, out of the five World Cup matches hosted at this venue, only once did a team batting first manage to cross the 100-run mark. This rare feat was achieved by the West Indies, who posted 149/6 against New Zealand and successfully defended their total.
