Former England captain Michael Vaughan has slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for favouring Team India, by assigning the first semifinal at Trinidad to Afghanistan and South Africa.
The first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 saw South Africa humiliate Afghanistan as they bowled them out for just 56 runs - which is the lowest ever team total in the history of T20 World Cup knockouts.
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After winning the toss, Afghanistan opted to bat first despite the tricky conditions of the pitch at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad. The game witnessed plenty of swing and seam for the pacers, making things difficult for the Afghan batters as they stumbled to 28/5 at the end of the powerplay.
Marco Jasnen (3/16), Kagiso Rabada (2/14) and Anrich Nortje (2/7) dominated the proceeding with their fast bowling on a pace-friendly surface, while wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3/6) cleaned up the tailenders.
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The target of 57 was chased down by the Proteas batters, Reeza Hendricks (29*) and Aiden Markram (23*) relatively easily despite the early wicket of Quinton de Kock, as the team went on to win by 9 wickets. South Africa made history by qualifying for a World Cup final for the first time ever since their debut in 1992.
Why did Michael Vaughan blame the ICC for favouring India during T20 World Cup semifinal?
The former England captain Michael Vaughan blamed Afghanistan's loss against South Africa because the ICC's scheduling favoured Team India.
Vaughan said that assigning the first semifinal to Afghanistan, gave the team very little time to prepare due to travel time and lack of practice ahead of their big game against South Africa. He shared his opinion on the social media platform X.
"So Afghanistan qualify for the WC semi winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players i am afraid ..," he posted
So Afghanistan qualify for the WC semi winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players i am afraid .. #T20WorldCup2024
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 27, 2024
In another tweet, he said that the Afghanistan team deserved gap of 1 day at the least for preparation before a knockout game, asserting that they would have got enough time to prepare, had India played the first semifinal instead.
I know but it’s still a different venue .. you surely earn the right in a semi final to have at least 1 days preparation .. https://t.co/YGaDS5tamT
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 27, 2024
The ICC had pre-decided that India would play the second semifinal at Guyana, irrespective of their Super 8 standing because the 8 PM IST game was a prime time for viewers in India, compared to the 6 AM IST timing.
Vaughan has a point because the first semifinal, if not for the prime Indian viewership factor, would have otherwise been played by the winners of Group 1 (India) and runners of Group 2 (England), instead of a South Africa-Afghanistan clash, which would have been semifinal 2.
"Surely this Semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it's so unfair on others ..," he posted on X.
Surely this Semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it’s so unfair on others .. #T20IWorldCup
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 27, 2024
South Africa have qualified for the T20 World Cup 2024 final, which will be played at Barbados on June 29, 2024. They will meet the winners of the second semifinal between India and England, on June 27, at Guyana.
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