New York: South Africa captain Aiden Markram on Sunday admitted that the "slow and fresh" Nassau County pitch is difficult to bat on, and he wants his team to rethink their run-scoring strategies on the surface here.
South Africa have won both their T20 World Cup matches here, but not without great struggle. They achieved the target of 78 runs against Sri Lanka in 16.2 overs and it took them 18.5 overs to achieve the target of 104 runs against Netherlands.
“It's still really fresh and just needs a little bit of traffic. This isn't your typical boundaries and balls flying everywhere.The pitch was very slow. This makes it more difficult to carry it across the ring. Maybe that's why it's tough,” Markram said ahead of SA's third Group D match against Bangladesh here on Monday.
Hence, finding the right batting approach on this deck was important for Markram, who wanted to capitalize on the experience of playing two matches here.
“Fortunately we have been fortunate to play two games on the surface and at this venue. So, hopefully, this can give us clear plans."Hopefully if we bat first we can develop plans from a batting point of view to get to a score of around 140 and hopefully our bowlers can do the rest," he said.
On the bowling front, Markram is facing a lot of trouble as pace bowlers Anrich Nortje and Otniel Bartman have done well, taking six and five wickets in the two matches.
“They have both been fantastic. You look at Anna (Nortje), maybe in the preparation for the World Cup, he would like to perform better. Before his serious injury, he was probably one of the best bowlers in the world.I don't think it changes.
“Ottonil is really clear, keeps things really simple, he has a good skill set and that's it. So, it's great to see that it has worked out for both of them,'' Markram said.
Despite going into the match with two consecutive wins, Markram was not ready to take Bangladesh lightly.
The Asian team had defeated Sri Lanka by two wickets in the opening match of the tournament.
“Yes, it would be great (to win and book a place in the Super Eights).Yes, this is the first box we want to tick.
“But still, you look at the conditions, you look at a really strong Bangladesh team and it will be a fair challenge for us."
South Africa have won both their T20 World Cup matches here, but not without great struggle. They achieved the target of 78 runs against Sri Lanka in 16.2 overs and it took them 18.5 overs to achieve the target of 104 runs against Netherlands.
“It's still really fresh and just needs a little bit of traffic. This isn't your typical boundaries and balls flying everywhere.The pitch was very slow. This makes it more difficult to carry it across the ring. Maybe that's why it's tough,” Markram said ahead of SA's third Group D match against Bangladesh here on Monday.
Hence, finding the right batting approach on this deck was important for Markram, who wanted to capitalize on the experience of playing two matches here.
“Fortunately we have been fortunate to play two games on the surface and at this venue. So, hopefully, this can give us clear plans."Hopefully if we bat first we can develop plans from a batting point of view to get to a score of around 140 and hopefully our bowlers can do the rest," he said.
On the bowling front, Markram is facing a lot of trouble as pace bowlers Anrich Nortje and Otniel Bartman have done well, taking six and five wickets in the two matches.
“They have both been fantastic. You look at Anna (Nortje), maybe in the preparation for the World Cup, he would like to perform better. Before his serious injury, he was probably one of the best bowlers in the world.I don't think it changes.
“Ottonil is really clear, keeps things really simple, he has a good skill set and that's it. So, it's great to see that it has worked out for both of them,'' Markram said.
Despite going into the match with two consecutive wins, Markram was not ready to take Bangladesh lightly.
The Asian team had defeated Sri Lanka by two wickets in the opening match of the tournament.
“Yes, it would be great (to win and book a place in the Super Eights).Yes, this is the first box we want to tick.
“But still, you look at the conditions, you look at a really strong Bangladesh team and it will be a fair challenge for us."
