The playing surface at the T20 Cricket World Cup venue in New York was defended by Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten on Sunday after his team lost to India in a low-scoring match.
India defeated Pakistan by six wickets despite being bowled out for 119, their lowest-ever total in a Twenty20 match. Their opponents were just not good enough.
With a “drop in” square installed one month prior to the competition, all five of the matches played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have been low-scoring contests.
Following India’s victory over Ireland last week, the surface drew criticism from former Zimbabwe international and former England team director Andy Flower, who labeled it as “dangerous” due to its uneven bounce.
Although the surface on Sunday was difficult to score on, Kirsten claimed that the game was exciting despite the infrequent ball that “popped” off a length.
“I don’t think it was dangerous; a few people did rise to the occasion, but not many. It was never going to be a huge total because, in general, it stayed a little bit lower, it was hard to score from both batting sides, and the outfield was very slow, according to Kirsten.
The South African continued, “I would have said 140 would have been a really good score on that pitch, so India didn’t get that and so I thought we had the game.”
Although boundaries had been scarce, which was unusual for the hard-hitting T20 style, Kirsten said that this just created for a different type of competition.
“I don’t think it’s bad for the game,” he said. “We knew it was going to be tight, but sometimes it’s fun seeing games like that as well. It’s not always about sixes and hitting, getting 260 and 240s. You can actually have a really entertaining game on a 120 chase.”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) acknowledged that the wickets for the venue’s inaugural games weren’t up to par following complaints last week.
The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium’s pitches haven’t performed as consistently as we would have all hoped, according to a statement from the ICC and T20 Inc.
After yesterday’s game, “the elite grounds crew has been working nonstop to address the issue and provide the best surfaces for the remaining matches,” they continued.
There are still three games at the location, with India playing their final match against co-hosts USA on Wednesday.
