South Africa has reached the final by defeating Afghanistan by 9 wickets in the first semi-final match of T20 World Cup 2024. With this victory, the African team has created history, the team is going to play a World Cup final for the first time. But meanwhile there is a ruckus about the pitch of Trinidad. After the match, Afghanistan’s head coach Jonathan Trott had said that this was not the semi-final pitch. At the same time, South African captain Aiden Markram is happy not to play on this pitch again.

The Trinidad pitch was very difficult to bat on, which the African bowlers took advantage of. And Afghanistan was all out for 56 runs in 11.5 overs. Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody and former Zimbabwean player Andy Flower have made a big statement raising questions on the Trinidad pitch.

T20 World Cup 2024: Playing on the pitch was a tough challenge- Tom Moody

Former Australian player Tom Moody says that there should be equal competition between ball and bat. He says that batsmen should not face a pitch where the conditions are completely against them. Tom Moody also said that it is not right for teams to score more than 200 in every match, balance is needed in every match. Talking on ESPNcricinfo, Tom Moody said,

You want a fair contest between bat and ball and I am not advocating that we need pitches where you need 200+ runs. But you need consistent bounce, that is the most important thing. Any batsman will put his hand up and say, that is the most important thing. If you have a ball that is hitting the toe of your bat or a ball that you feel you are going to punch the same length with your gloves, it is a very tough challenge to counter.

The pitch was a bit dangerous- Andy Flower

Former Zimbabwe player Andy Flower says that the pitch had inconsistent bounce, which troubled the batsmen. Flower also said that the pitch also looked dangerous because the balls were passing around the shoulders, neck and chin of the batsmen, which could also cause injuries. Andy Flower said,

As a batsman, you’re trying to predict where the ball will be. You’d like to get it somewhere in the middle of the bat at least. And on this pitch, it was almost impossible to do that on any consistent basis. It was a bit dangerous actually. Some of the balls were going past the shoulders, necks, chin height of the South African fast bowlers. And one of them even went past the head of Quinton de Kock, the keeper. And I was glad nobody got hurt.