On Thursday, Papua New Guinea pacer Norman Vanua shocked Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai by getting a delivery to shoot along the turf and knock back the batter's middle stump during the sides' clash in Tarouba, Trinidad.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup Group C encounter, Afghanistan lost openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran early on in their pursuit of 96. Omarzai came to the crease in the third over, joining Gulbadin Naib with the score reading 22-2.
The pair put on 33 runs in 35 balls, slowly guiding their side towards the target. But in the ninth over, with Omarzai on 13 from 17 balls, Norman Vanua bowled a delivery which pitched on a good length. The batter got on the front foot, trying to play it with a straight bat.
He played down the right line, but the ball kept extremely low, staying mere centimetres above the turf as it snuck under Omarzai's defence and rattled the stumps. Thereafter, Gulbadin and Mohammad Nabi ensured Afghanistan got over the line with 29 balls to spare.
Earlier on in the match, Afghan seamers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq shared five wickets between them to help bowl Papua New Guinea out for just 95.
Watch Norman Vanua bowl Azmatullah Omarzai with a shooter
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Has the pitch in Trinidad been easy to bat on?
The previous match at the Brian Lara Stadium saw West Indies reduced to 30-5 by New Zealand, before Sherfane Rutherford's superb knock of 68* helped them to 149. In the second innings, the Kiwis slumped to 63-5 and 117-9 before finishing on 136 all out.
This is the venue for the first semi-final of the tournament, between the winner of Super Eight Group 1 and runner-up of Group 2 (unless India finish first in Group 1, in which case their semi-final will be held in Guyana). It seems as though the pitch could be a bit two-paced, something the contending teams will have to bear in mind.
Five matches were played on this ground during the 2023 Caribbean Premier League, in which the highest total was Guyana Amazon Warriors' 181-9. England also scored 267-3 here against West Indies last December but so far in the T20 World Cup, this surface has not shown any signs of producing a mammoth score.
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