"Don't need 20 sixes" Anrich Nortje reacts to criticism of New York pitch

Anrich Nortje recorded figures of 4/7 against Sri Lanka in their Group D encounter of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

After recording his career-best bowling figures, South Africa paceman Anrich Nortje has spoken against the criticism of the New York pitch, saying that only high-scoring games don’t provide entertainment in T20 cricket.

The pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has come under the scanner after it hosted a low-scoring affair between Sri Lanka and South Africa. This was the first match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in New York and it left the fans and officials with questions about the pitch.

Sri Lanka were bundled out for only 77 as Anrich Nortje returned with sensational figures of 4/7. In the chase, South Africa took 16.2 overs to gun down the target of 78 runs. It was an uneven pitch with inconsistent bounce, making six-hitting a really difficult task; only six sixes were hit in the match. There were 127 dot balls, the most in a men’s T20 World Cup match.

I thought the entertainment was there: Anrich Nortje

The majority of the fans and experts felt that a low-scoring encounter wasn’t a good advertisement for T20 cricket in America. However, Nortje doesn’t concur with that view.

The pacer said, “I thought the game was great. I thought the entertainment was there. I thought the people were there. It was a brilliant spectacle.”

“It doesn’t always mean, correct me if I’m wrong, there needs to be 20 sixes in a game to make it entertaining. There’s still a lot of strategy that goes into the game. There’s a lot of skill that goes into the game, whether it’s sixes or fast bowlers or spinners, however it might be. So, I thought the game was a brilliant game. It was still a close game at the end of the day, another wicket or two, and things might have been different. We might have been in a little bit more trouble.”

South Africa’s next match is against the Netherlands on Saturday, also in New York.

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