T20 World Cup: New York pitch slow, needs bit of traffic, says SA skipper Aiden Markram

South Africa captain Aiden Markram accepted that they have found it tough to score on a “slow and fresh” track at the Nassau County ground at the T20 World Cup.

South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram, right, and batting partner Quinton de Kock run between the wickets to score during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York, Monday, June 3, 2024. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The slow nature of the New York pitch has made life difficult for batters, said South Africa skipper Aiden Markram and though his side have won both their opening two T20 World Cup matches, he wants his team to re-draw plan in how to score at the venue.

South Africa struggled to chase down 78 runs against Sri Lanka, achieving it in 16.2 overs and took 18.5 overs to reach 104 against the Netherlands.

He accepted that they have found it tough to score on a “slow and fresh” track at the Nassau County ground. The ground was prepared monthe before for the tournament and drop-in pitch was flown in for the matches.

Hence run-making has been difficult, which has led to criticism of the ICC for using under-ccoked pitches in a mega tournament without even scheduling few practice games.

“It’s still really fresh and just needs a bit of traffic. It’s not your usual boundaries and ball flying everywhere. The pitch has been quite slow. That makes it even tougher to get it through the ring. That’s probably the reason why it’s tough,” Markram said on Saturday.

South Africa are scheduled to play their third Group D match against Bangladesh in New York on Monday and believes the experience of playing two matches would helm them.

“We’ve luckily had the privilege of playing two games now on the surface and at this venue. So, hopefully, it can give us clearer plans.

“Hopefully, we can develop plans from a batting point of view to get to a score of maybe about 140 if we do bat first and hopefully then our bowlers can do the rest,” he added.

South African pacers Anrich Nortje and Ottniel Baartman have been in form, taking six and five wickets from two matches, which has pleased Markram.

“Both of them have been fantastic. You look at Anna (Nortje), maybe in the build up to the World Cup, he would have liked to have done better. Before his massive injury, he was, probably, one of the best bowlers in the world. I don’t think that changes,” the right hander said.

“Ottniel is really clear, keeps things really simple, got a nice skill set and that’s what they back. So, it’s great to see it’s worked for the two of them,” said Markram.