Pitch set on fire by groundstaff to speeden up drying process (Source: Scotland/X)
A part of the pitch at the Maple Leaf North-West Ground in King City was set on fire by the groundstaff to speed up the drying after the start of the Cricket World Cup League 2 match between Namibia and Scotland was delayed. After multiple inspections and efforts, the match was called off due to unsuitable pitch and damp outfield.
Meanwhile, visuals of the bizarre incident surfaced after the match was called off. Cricket Scotland’s X account posted pictures of players from both the teams looking from the square as charred patches appeared on the pitch due to ash fire residue.
Before that, multiple inspections took place, however, heavy downpour took away a lot of time and the pitch could not be readied within the cutoff time of 9:02 pm (local time) despite the extraordinary methods applied by the groundstaff. This meant that the two teams had to share the points.
Namibia and Scotland are currently positioned at sixth and third place on the points table, respectively. The Gerhard Erasmus-led unit has won eight and lost 13 games in the CWC League 2 so far. As for the Scottish, they have won 11 and lost seven. This was Scotland’s third abandoned game. Scotland have a much more superior net run rate (+0.886).
USA are currently leading the charts, as they have played 20 matches so far, possessing a 70% win percentage. Nepal and UAE, placed seventh and eighth, are the only two teams that have played fewer matches than USA (16 each).
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