South African pacer Kagiso Rabada expects to see “competitive scores” in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup as the West Indian pitches are more consistent in nature compared to the drop-in decks being used in the US leg of the tournament.
The 22-yard strip in New York kicked up a storm because of the excess and varied bounce it offered to the bowlers, which made run-making a hazardous job. Now, the Super Eight matches will be played exclusively at Caribbean venues.
“I do expect that conditions are going to level up because you had the drop-in pitches in the USA. You never really know how they’re going to play,” said Rabada on the eve of South Africa’s final Group D match against Nepal here.
“Now, you’ve actually got squares that have been there for years, here in these venues. And you’ll probably see more competitive scores,” he added.
Rabada said balanced playing surfaces are important to ensure an equal contest between bat and ball.
“You want to get a game and find pitches where you have enough in it for the bowlers and enough in it for the batters.
“That’s essentially what a cricket game is. Otherwise, you might as well just call it batting or you might as well call it bowling,” he explained.
The 29-year-old cited the example of the match between Australia and England at Barbados on June 8 to underline his point.
“You look at the game between Australia and England, where 200 played 150. So, if you bat well in these conditions, you can still reach 200,” he said.
