South Africa had a very close call as they successfully defeated Bangladesh in match 21 out of 55 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on 10 June.
The match had some really exciting moments and it wasn’t clear which team had the better chance of winning until the very end. South Africa won the toss, opted to bat first and yet, could only score a lousy 113 in the first innings.
South Africa’s Low score and average bowling in the second innings made most fans lose hope at the New York stadium as the match progressed. However, the team managed to somehow restrict Bangladesh on 109/7 and win the match by 4 runs.
“Not a great selling product”: Heinrich Klaasen on T20 World Cup in New York pitch
South African veteran Heinrich Klaasen had addressed the journalists at the post match press conference and stated that he believes the low-scoring, short form of cricket will not be able to get capitalized enough.
Klaasen was questioned if the matches on these tough pitches are enjoyable to the players, to which Klaasen replied,
“It is still good cricket for the cricket lovers that is out there. If you have to showcase it to the world and sell it, I do not think it’s a great selling product, but for cricket, it is tight competition. It brings the other teams and the higher teams very close to each other, so the game is open to any team that does the basics of cricket very well.”
“For us, it is very nerve-wracking, because every game becomes a really big game. There are no easy games for us especially in our group. So, it is still good entertaining cricket. Everyone is on the edge of their seat and any team can beat any team on the down this on this field,” he added.
Klaasen’s take on Cricket in other countries
Later, Heinrich was also asked about his feelings on whether he would like to play cricket in other countries like Argentina and Brazil, apart from the usual pitches. To this, Klaasen responded with his knowledge about the Europe league being cancelled, and that he’s open to it.
“I think there is a lot of places where – I know there was a Europe League that got started and that got cancelled.” Klaasen said.
“We are open as cricketers anywhere as long as it is good conditions and we can play good cricket, we are all open to it and I think it is a good idea to play maybe T20 cricket around the world in different countries. So, I am open to that idea.” He added.
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