The eighth edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is set to kick off in Australia on the 16th of October. A ‘Group A’ encounter between Sri Lanka and Namibia at the Simonds Stadium Geelong will set the beginning of the marquee event. The 29-day-long tournament will be played across 7 venues in Australia. A total of 6 T20 World Cup games will be played at the Simonds Stadium Geelong, hence, in this article, we will be discussing the Pitch Report of the venue.
All the games set to be held at the Simonds Stadium are group stage games where the Group A teams – Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Namibia, and UAE will be seen featuring. The Top 2 sides in the group point table after these games will be moving ahead to the Super 12 stage.
Cricket Stadium T20I Records And Stats - Record Breaking Moments T20 Records At Geelong Cricket Ground Victoria />
Only 1 T20 international has been played at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium so far. The game was played back in 2017 when Sri Lanka managed to defeat the hosts Australia while chasing a 173-run total. However, 7 Big Bash League (BBL) games have been played in Geelong. You can find the records below.
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The pitch at the Simonds Stadium provides good assistance to both, the batters as well as the bowlers. The pacers get the ball moving in the initial phase of the match which tends to trouble the batters a bit. However, later the batters can play their shots and post good totals on the board.
As the match progresses at the Simonds Stadium, it is seen generally seen that the spinners start receiving some turn. This makes it an even competition between the bat and the ball as the batters then have to play the spinners cautiously. Chasing a total may turn a bit difficult at the Simonds Stadium due to the slower nature of the pitch in the second innings. Therefore, it would be a wiser option to bat first after winning the toss here. 160 would be a competitive total on the Simonds Stadium pitch, Geelong.Only a night’s sleep is left for the commencement of ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The eighth edition of the T20 World Cup will begin with the first match between Sri Lanka and Namibia to be played in Geelong in several hours from now.
In what is going to be only the second international match between Sri Lanka and Namibia, it will also be the second international match at the Simonds Stadium. In fact, the stadium will be welcoming back international cricket after more than half-a-decade.
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The inaugural T20I here was played between Australia and Sri Lanka resulting in a nail-biting 2-wicket victory for the visitors. Barring wicket-keeper batter Kusal Mendis, no other current Sri Lankan player was part of their Playing XI back in the day.
Considering how only a solitary international match has been played at this stadium, it should be understandable that there are a limited number of records with respect to the GMHBA Stadium.
Batters Asela Gunaratne (84), Moises Henriques (56), Michael Klinger (43) and Chamara Kapugedara (32) had emerged as the best batters in the inaugural T20I here. Nuwan Kulasekara (4), Andrew Tye (3), Lasith Malinga (2), James Faulkner (2) and Vikum Sanjaya (2) had picked more than one wicket at this stadium then.
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Having hosted three Big Bash League 2021-22 matches earlier this year, Geelong has been venue to a total of nine Men’s T20s till date. That being said, no player taking part in the first round of this tournament (barring the above mentioned) has played here in the past.
Chasing a 174-run target against the home team, Sri Lanka had scored 176/8 in 20 overs which continues to remain the highest T20I innings total, highest successful T20I run-chase and third-highest T20 innings total at the Simonds Stadium.
BBL franchise Perth Scorchers has the two highest T20 innings total at this venue. While no team has ever crossed the 200-run mark here in the shortest format, Scorchers had scored 196/3 and 178/4 against Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades respectively.
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Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who is currently into his fifth year as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. His first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.Big Bash League will return to Geelong after just over 11 months with one of the 17 venues for this season all in readiness to host first of two league matches allotted to it. With the city hosting six ICC T20 World Cup 2022 matches in October, it will now be hosting both its BBL 12 matches this month itself.
Home ground to Melbourne Renegades, GMHBA Stadium will be hosting Brisbane Heat in BBL 2022-23 Match 10 on Wednesday before hosting Sydney Sixers on December 30.
With this stadium hosting seven BBL matches across four seasons in the past, an average run rate of 7.72 suggests the lack of high-scoring contests. While teams batting first have won thrice, teams batting second have won four BBL matches here.
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Highest T20 run-scorers at the Simonds Stadium are Beau Webster (172), Shaun Marsh (140), Aaron Finch (140), Max O’Dowd (129) and Sam Harper (128). Harper (73), Jake Weatherald (71), Laurie Evans (69), Alex Hales (68) and Usman Khawaja (66) have registered some of the highest individual BBL scores at this venue.
Highest wicket-takers in Geelong T20s are Wanindu Hasaranga (7), Bas de Leede (7), Ben Dwarshuis (6), Zahoor Khan (5) and Maheesh Theekshana (5). Sydney Sixers pacer Dwarshuis is the only bowler to pick a BBL five-wicket haul at this stadium. Perth Scorchers pacer Matthew Kelly has the second-best BBL bowling figures of 4-0-25-4 at the GMHBA Stadium.
The above mentioned second-highest innings totals is also the highest successful run-chase in the history of Big Bash League matches at the Simonds Stadium. Although Renegades were at the receiving end of a record in this particular match, they have sealed two out of four BBL run-chases here.
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Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who is currently into his fifth year as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. His first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.Operated by the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, the sporting venue has staged AFL matches, A-League clashes as well as international cricket fixtures.
Also known as the Geelong Cricket Stadium, it is the home ground of AFL club Geelong Football Club, A-League outfit Western United and the Australian cricket team.
The venue hosted its first international cricket match, a T20I between hosts Australia and Sri Lanka in February 2017. Sri Lanka won the match by two wickets.
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Highest total: Sri Lanka’s 176/8 against hosts Australia is the highest team total at the Simonds Stadium in T20I cricket. Put into bat, Australia rode on Moises Henriques’ unbeaten 56 off 37 balls and Michael Klinger’s 37-ball 43 to post 173 all out in 20 overs in February 2017.
In reply, Asela Gunaratne smashed 84 not out off 46 balls and Chamara Kapugedera’s run-a-ball 32 helped Sri Lanka chase down the total in the last ball of the 20th over to finish with 176/8 and secure a thrilling two-wicket win.
Lowest total: UAE’s 73 against Sri Lanka in the qualifiers of the T20 World Cup 2022 is lowest total at this venue. Chasing a target of 153, the Chundangapoyil Rizwan-led side was bowled out for 73 runs as Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga bagged three wickets each.
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Highest individual score: Sri Lanka’s Asela Gunaratne holds the record for the highest individual score at this ground in T20 format. During the second T20I of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia in 2017, Gunaratne slammed an unbeaten 84 off 46 balls to help the visitors chase down 174.
Best bowling figures: Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Kulasekara has the best bowling figures at the Simonds Stadium in T20I format. The right-arm fast bowler registered figures of 4-0-31-4 during the second T20I of the series. Kulasekara bagged the wickets of Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Andrew Tye and Jhye Richardson to wrap up the Australian innings.
While Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit registered the 70-run stand against Sri Lanka in the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2022 qualifiers, David Wiese and Ruben Trumpelmann matched the record against UAE later in the same tournament.
