New York - Where the batters were at pacers' mercy

After eight matches of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in the New York state, teams will finally heave a sigh of relief - especially the batters who will look forward to more favourable climes to display their skillsets. Teams from Group A and Group D played matches here, with India and South Africa featuring in the most - three matches each.

The drop-in pitches, prepared in Adelaide and stationed in Florida before being moved to New York, weren't welcoming at all for the batters. Despite a few close finishes, the pace friendly wickets with indifferent bounce, didn't really set the stage alight in New York in terms of entertainment quotient, with 108 being the average first innings score here and 111 chased down by India against the USA being the highest successful chase.

Looking at the overall numbers in T20I internationals, the New York stadium ranks as the second worst for batters in terms of scoring rate. And the highest total 137 posted here is the lowest highest total among all venues that have hosted at least eight T20Is.

Lowest average runs per wicket at a venue in T20Is (Min. 8 matches)

Only one warm-up match was played at Nassau County, India vs Bangladesh, and the signs looked promising. Despite the initial struggle for India, they managed to post a total of 182, which suggested a competitive pitch. But come the tournament proper, there seemed no respite for the batters who were at the mercy of the quick bowlers.

It started with Sri Lanka getting bowled out for 77 and South Africa chasing it down in 16.2 overs, getting over the line after some hiccups. Ireland were bundled out for 96 by India who reached the target in 12.2 overs, although there was some initial struggle for Rohit Sharma's side. Canada and Ireland faced off next, and their match produced the highest collective team score of 262. This match happened after the ICC issued a release, admitting that the pitches weren't up to the mark.

"T20 Inc and the ICC recognise that the pitches used so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have not played as consistently as we would have all wanted," stated the ICC release. "The world-class grounds team have been working hard since the conclusion of yesterday's game [India vs Ireland] to remedy the situation and deliver the best possible surfaces for the remaining matches."

But there was no change in the tone of the matches hosted by New York thereafter. The Netherlands scored 103 and ran South Africa close, who took 18.5 overs to reach the target. In the blockbuster India-Pakistan clash, Jasprit Bumrah engineered India's successful defence of 119 and then South Africa went on to defend a total of 113. Canada took on Pakistan in the penultimate match here, scoring 106 which was chased down by Babar Azam's side in 17.3 overs. The final match, between hosts USA and India, didn't deviate from New York's low-scoring theme, with India securing a hard-fought win.

India's score of 111 in the second innings ranked as the joint second lowest highest successful chase at a particular venue where at least five run-chases have taken place. The New York venue, which is set to be dismantled very soon, also ended up with the second lowest run-rate in run-chases (Min. 5 chases).

Lowest highest successful chases in T20Is (Min. 5 chases)

The New York venue also features prominently in the list of lowest totals defended successfully in T20 World Cup (curtailed games not considered), with the South Africa-Bangladesh game and the India-Pakistan encounter in the top two.

Lowest totals successfully defended in T20 World Cups

There were five individual fifty-plus scores at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium scored in this T20 World Cup, which is the joint lowest with four other venues which have hosted at least eight matches. Three of them also featured among the top five list of slowest T20I half-centuries.

Slowest fifties in the T20 World Cup

Pacers trump spinners in New York

Not only the batters, even the spin bowlers found the going tough in New York. They bagged 15 wickets in total, with Keshav Maharaj and Axar Patel accounting for eight of those, with the South African spinner having the best returns (3-27) among the lot.

In comparison, pacers picked up as many as 82 wickets, which included three four-wicket hauls (Anrich Nortje, Arshdeep Singh and Ottneil Baartman), and five more three-wicket hauls for pacers - Jasprit Bumrah, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Hardik Pandya being the bowlers.

Nortje finished as the leading wicket-taker in New York, bagging eight wickets at an average of 5.37 and an economy rate of 3.58 - both being the best in the T20 World Cup among bowlers who have played at least three matches and bagged five or more wickets at a particular venue. Baartman (Avg: 9;40, Eco: 3.91) and Bumrah (Avg: 9.00, Eco: 4.09) occupy the next two spots.