NEW DELHI: The Afghanistan team’s coach, Jonathan Trott, has criticized the field utilized in this T20 World Cup semifinal match against South Africa, saying it was not suitable for such a big game.

At the Brian Lara Cricket Academy stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, Afghanistan was bowled out for 56, the lowest score in a T20 World Cup semifinal. The surface, which offered lateral seam action and uneven bounce, was a nightmare for batsmen.

South Africa’s batsmen had trouble even though they managed to chase down the score in 8.5 overs.

“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, according to PTI.

The former England hitter claimed that batting was entirely eliminated from the game by the pitch.

“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.”

The location provided pacers with swing and seam and spinners with turn throughout the competition.

In the five World Cup matches Tarouba hosted, a side batting first failed to score more than 100 runs just once. The West Indies defeated New Zealand, who was valiantly guarded by the co-hosts, with a score of 149/6.

“If the opposition bowled well and got to a position where they bowled very, very well and it’s through skill, then that’s fine and then it’s about adapting to that,” he said.

“But once the ball starts misbehaving and rolling, if we had bowled as straight as South Africa had, I think you would have seen a very interesting second half as well,” he added.

Afghan players were tired but that’s no excuse
Afghanistan endured a tumultuous and emotionally fraught forty hours leading up to their inaugural World Cup semifinal appearance.

They prevailed over Bangladesh by an exciting eight runs in the pouring rain during a crucial match that ended in the early hours of Tuesday in Kingstown. Then, there was a four-hour delay in their trip to Tarouba. Captain Rashid Khan said he hadn’t slept much even at the toss.

“We only got back to hotel at three o’clock and then we had to leave at eight o’clock — five hours later so we didn’t get much sleep so the guys obviously were very tired and a lot to process really emotionally physically. So all new territory for the guys,” Trott said

Despite this, Trott acknowledged they were surpassed by a formidable South African team.

“But we knew the schedule, so that’s not an excuse as such. When you go in World Cups or tournaments, you can’t have everything your own way, and you’ve got to fight and play against the odds which you’ve done at times and very proud of that. But it’s no, it’s not the reason why we didn’t win today.”

“South Africa bowled well, used the conditions, and showed our boys what it’s capable of. But it just didn’t go our way tonight.”

The 43-year-old hoped that the semifinal loss serves as a learning for the team that has improved leaps and bounds in the last five years.

“…we’ve obviously got one better than the previous (ODI) World Cup in November and it’s just about taking it step by step and hopefully we learn from today, the batters certainly.

“What it takes to play international cricket and play against a bowling side like South Africa on a pitch that’s perhaps not conducive to high scoring runs and finding ways of winning games…we just couldn’t find a way today.”

Afghanistan’s top run scorers in the competition, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0) and Ibrahim Zadran (2), both opened with failures, placing pressure on the middle order, which hadn’t scored any runs during the tournament.

“Nobody else has got runs. We need to find a reason for that,” Trott said.