CHENNAI, (Reuters) – South African captain Graeme Smith spoke today of his concerns over the track at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, host of three World Cup matches.
After his team crushed Zimbabwe by eight wickets in a warm-up game at the venue with the spinners claiming six victims, Smith said he expected better wickets for the Feb. 19-April 2 World Cup.
“I don’t think it was a great wicket, it probably suited them,” Smith said of the performance of his three frontline spinners — Imran Tahir (3-35), Robin Petersen (2-21) and Johan Botha (1-18).
“The wicket probably helped them a little bit being, I think, maybe a bit under-prepared but they bowled well.”
The South African skipper also expressed concern over the placidness of the track and the dew factor for day-night games.
But he added: “I expect the wicket to be better prepared for the World Cup games. (It’s) still early days, I think coming into those games the wicket will get a lot more attention.”
Chennai hosts Kenya v New Zealand on Feb. 20, England v West Indies on March 17 and India v West Indies on March 20.
