Empty stadiums at West Indies vs PNG paints bleaks T20 World Cup truth
An image from the T20 Cricket World Cup has quickly gone viral with fans of the game left questioning the sport’s governing body.
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The T20 Cricket World Cup is underway in the West Indies and USA … turns out nobody told the fans.
In the second match of the tournament, the West Indies were lined up against Papua New Guinea at Guyana National Stadium.
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The home nation bowled out the cricket minnows for a lacklustre 136 runs from their 20 overs.
After a shaky start to the chase, things got off and firing with Roston Chase leading the way as they secured the five wicket victory with an over remaining.
But it was an image from the morning match that quickly raised eyebrows.
As West Indies skipper Rovman Powell spoke ahead of the opening ball, the stands in the background were completely bare.
The image quickly went viral with fans questioning why the stands were empty and why the game had been scheduled to begin at 10am local time.
One Reddit user wrote: “As a Guyanese, the reason for this is the ridiculous ticket prices. The green stand in the background is $75 per seat. If you notice, however, the grass mound is packed because it’s cheap. Not to undermine PNG and Uganda but allocating more exciting matches certainly would’ve resulted in better turnouts.”
A second added: “Anyone with a brain could have identified this was a terrible idea.”
A third wrote: “If you want to make waves in America for cricket you should at least plan to host matches which will match the timing of Americans.”
A fourth said: “I don’t know why even host the world cup their. ICC should either commit to a world cup in North America or just not host there. What is this pretending to care about them and then host and 10am just so subcontinent audiences can watch.”
Despite the lacklustre showing in the stands, the West Indies survived an almighty scare to secure a win in their World Cup opener.
“Based on what we saw when PNG batted, it was always going to be hard for batsmen now coming in, so I gave myself some time to have the best chance possible and back my skills to get the ball away once I got in,” said Chase, who was awarded Man of the Match for his match-winning performance.
PNG captain Assad Vala said the nation fell short of posting a total that would have amplified the pressure on the West Indies.
“We were 10-15 runs short of what would have been a more competitive target but after losing so many early wickets it was still a good effort,” Vala said.
“We are happy with the fight we showed in trying to defend that total. This is an opportunity for us, and we look forward to the challenge to play our best cricket in tournaments and against teams like this.”
Originally published as Empty stadiums at West Indies vs PNG paints bleaks T20 World Cup truth
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