Ban vs NZ: ICC rates Mirpur pitch as ‘unsatisfactory’, venue gets demerit point

The Mirpur surface, used for the second Test of Bangladesh vs New Zealand’s ICC World Test Championship series, was deemed “unsatisfactory” by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday. “The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that the pitch for the second Test of the ICC World Test Championship series between Bangladesh and New Zealand at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur has been rated as “unsatisfactory” under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process,” an official statement said. ICC Match Referee David Boon gave his report to the ICC, detailing the concerns of the match officials, after his conversations with the captains of both teams.

The evaluation resulted in one penalty point for the venue. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) received the findings and now has 14 days to challenge the sentence. Boon underscored his concerns in his evaluation, characterizing the pitch as “under-prepared,” with “erratic bounce and balls bursting from the surface.”

“The outfield was very good and held up extremely well with the rain. However, it appeared that the pitch may have been under prepared, as it was not hard and was covered in grass clippings on day one,” Boon was quoted as saying by ICC. “From the first session onwards, throughout the remainder of the match the bounce was inconsistent with numerous balls bursting the surface. Deliveries from spin bowlers often went over the batter’s shoulder when playing forward and then occasionally stayed very low,” he said.

A venue is prohibited from hosting any international cricket matches for a year after accumulating six demerit points, which are valid for a rolling five-year term. In regards to the outcome of the second game, on Saturday, New Zealand secured a victory in the second game in four days, leveling the two-match Test series against Bangladesh at 1-1. After stealing the show with the bat once more, Glenn Phillps scored 40* off 48 balls and forged an important unbeaten 70-run combination with Mitchell Santner.