Slow pitches in SA20 will help players prepare better for T20 World Cup, says Shaun Pollock

The slow nature of pitches in the ongoing SA20, which has attracted plenty of criticism, will prove to be beneficial for players heading to the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, reckoned legendary South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock. The T20 World Cup starts from February 7.

“To be brutally honest, some of the surfaces at the back end of this tournament have been good preparation for the guys heading to the World Cup, because the ball has been stopping, they’ve been spinning,” Pretoria Capitals’ assistant coach Pollock said. In the second half of the current SA20 season, only MI Cape Town managed to cross the 200-run mark, even as players were often seen struggling to play big shots.

Pollock was speaking to select Indian journalists after Pretoria Capitals defeated Sunrisers Eastern Cape by seven wickets in the first qualifier to advance to the final on Wednesday. “I mean, in my day, we were very accustomed to fast, quick pitches where ball came on nicely, but we’ve seen quite a bit of spin being effective. “So, for the players that are playing, I know there’s a few niggles going around, and guys getting injured at the back end here for South Africa, but I think the guys who are playing on these pitches, it probably helps them prepare.” he said.

 Pollock, however, believes there’s no need to worry about the 2027 ODI World Cup, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, as there’s still plenty of time to prepare pitches for that tournament, which is scheduled for October-November.

“Your pitches will be totally different in that stage. You’ve got more time to prepare them. I’m not concerned.” he said. Pollock, who has taken over 800 wickets and scored over 7,000 runs for South Africa, is glad his team lost the toss in the first qualifier because they also wanted to bat first. “I think we were fortunate that we didn’t win the toss. Because the guys wanted to bat first as well, I think it was a slow surface.

Obviously with that ball getting a little bit older, made it a little bit more difficult.  “But I think what impressed me the most about it is we were in a position where we were looking like they were going to post 200,” Pollock said. “Lungi (Ngidi) was injured. The ball was coming into the batsman, which cost Gideon Peters dearly. I think the most impressive thing was how the other players took charge. Bryce Parsons took three wickets for 10 runs in three overs.”

“He hasn’t bowled much in the tournament, but he’s had a bit of a golden arm, so we knew he had a chance. And his spell was brilliant, I mean the fact that he bowled the 19th over. Even Sherfane has just bowled once for us, he stepped up.” Bryce Brevis powered Pretoria Capitals to a seven-wicket victory over top-ranked Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Qualifier 1 that clinched the side a place in the SA20 final here.

Bryce Parsons (60 off 44 balls) delivered a dream all-round performance with a magical spell of 3/10 to restrict Sunrisers Eastern Cape to 170/7 before forming a 91-run partnership with Dewald Brevis (75 off 38 balls) to guide Capitals home in first qualifier. Pollock added, “All the guys did a good job, so a lot of character to pull it back. And the batting hasn’t been probably as strong as we would have liked it, particularly at the top of the order. And once again some of the guys stood up and Parsons put up that partnership at the top of the order to lay the good foundation.”

The Pretoria Capitals assistant coach further said, “He (Parsons) hasn’t bowled much in the tournament, but he changed the course of the match. His spell was excellent, bowling the 19th over. Sherfane, who has only bowled once for us, did well.” Pollock, however, admitted that his top-order batting wasn’t as strong as he would have liked. “We know that Brevis been training in the right direction. He came good in the last game with Sherfane, and then showed more of that class today. So, yeah, really happy. (PTI )