Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan slammed the pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York after Sri Lanka were bowled out for 77 in 19.1 overs in their T20 World Cup 2024 Group D match on Monday, June 3. After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka did not have any clue about how to face the Proteas bowling attack.
Sri Lanka also slumped to their lowest score in T20Is. Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis and Angelo Mathews got into double digits, but failed to get a big score. Mendis was their top-scorer after he made 19 runs off 30 balls with a four before Anrich Nortje ended his miserable stay in the middle.
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After the first innings, Irfan said that the track in New York is not ideal for T20 cricket by any stretch of the imagination.
Irfan took to ‘X’ and wrote, “Not an ideal pitch for T20 cricket.”
The same venue in New York is set to host the marquee clash between Rohit Sharma’s India and Babar Azam’s Pakistan on Sunday, June 9.
Anrich Nortje runs through Sri Lanka
After being asked to bat first, the Sri Lankan batters failed to get going. The Islanders scored only 24 runs in the powerplay despite losing only 1 wicket. Even after the powerplay, they could never step on the gas.
Anrich Nortje, who wasn’t in the best of form while playing for DC in the IPL, looked dangerous. He finished with figures of 4-0-7-4 and recorded the best bowling figures by a South African in the history of the Men’s T20 World Cup.
Kagiso Rabada and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj accounted for 2 scalps apiece. Ottneil Baartman also did his job precisely with figures of 4-1-9-1. Marco Jansen failed to make a breakthrough after he had figures of 3.1-0-15-0.
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