Trinidad

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has not liked the use of a new pitch for the T20 World Cup semi-final match between Afghanistan and South Africa. The pitch at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad played excessively in favour of the pace bowlers, allowing South Africa to bundle Afghanistan on a paltry total of 56 - the lowest score in a T20 WC semi-final. 

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Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan won the toss and opted to bat first, as is the trend often in big knockout matches. However, the decision proved awful in hindsight as the seaming conditions and the unpredictable nature of the pitch startled the Afghan batters. 

“It seems strange to me that you’ll use a brand new wicket for a semifinal one that you’ve actually got no idea about how it’s going to play. We heard the preparation for this wicket started about a week and a half,” Ponting told the host broadcaster.

The legendary Australian player highlighted that seam and swing still would have been fine but the inconsistent bounce is what turned the semi-final into a drab affair. 

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“There was a game early in the tournament – West Indies and New Zealand – which was a 150 plays 140 type game. And at least they had some sort of idea of how that wicket was going play," said Ponting. 

"I know the ball swung that night. That’s okay. You can deal with that. But the variation in bounce and seam that we’ve seen here, I’m not sure if I’m the groundsman, I’ll be experimenting with something like that in such a big moment."

Also read | T20 WC: NUMBERS GAME - SA achieve HISTORIC feat with semifinal win, Afghanistan attain unwanted records

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Trott slams the pitch

Ponting was not the only ex-player to share his displeasure over the quality of the pitch. Former England batter and current Afghanistan coach, Jonathan Trott, slammed the authorities for offering such a pitch in the semi-final. 

"I don't want to get myself into trouble. But I also don't want to sound a bit like 'sour grapes' but that's not the pitch that you want to have a semi-final of a World Cup on. Plain and simple," said Trott after the match. 

Afghanistan had come into the semifinal on the back of a heroic win against the Bangla Tigers. Not many would have predicted the Afghan side to reach the semifinals but the team, led by Rashid Khan showed exemplary courage and doggedness to beat the odds. If the pitch was sporting, Afghanistan could have pushed South Africa to the edge as well.  

(With inputs from agencies)