Greenfield International Stadium Pitch Report: It is disappointing to see that rain has had the last laugh in most of the World Cup warm-up fixtures thus far. A persistent drizzle in Thiruvananthapuram denied South Africa an opportunity to get some match practice under their belt after rain washed out their warm-up clash against Afghanistan on September 29.
Meanwhile, New Zealand were fortunate enough as they got ample practice in the first warm-up match against Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Kiwis are heading into the warm-up clash against South Africa with two major positives. Skipper Kane Williamson scored a half-century before retiring hurt and the Blackcaps won the game against the Babar Azam-led side after chasing down 346 with ease in just 43.4 overs.
Interestingly, New Zealand had given the youngster Rachin Ravindra an opportunity to open the batting in the game against the Babar Azam-led side and the southpaw utilised it completely. He scored 97 off 72 balls, including 16 fours and a maximum before Agha Salman cleaned him up. If the youngster gets the opportunity to perform again and does well then it will create a few selection headaches for New Zealand ahead of their World Cup opener.
However, the rain threat will continue to loom large over the clash between South Africa and New Zealand.
Greenfield International Stadium Pitch Report
The pitch at the Greenfield International Stadium is of a balanced nature. With so much rain around one can expect the seamers from both sides to dictate the proceedings.
Greenfield International Stadium Records and Stats
Total ODI Matches: 2
Matches won batting first: 1
Matches won bowling first: 1
Average first innings score: 247
Average second innings score: 89
Highest total scored: 390/5 by IND vs SL
Highest score chased: 105/1 by India vs West Indies
Lowest total recorded: 73 all out by Sri Lanka vs India
Lowest total defended: 390/5 by India vs Sri Lanka