Playing in their first World Cup semi-final, Afghanistan fell to their lowest T20 total on a surface summed up by one over from Azmatullah Omarzai that ended with two balls that scuttled through at ankle height followed by one that reared up from a length.

Cricviz data also showed there was a significant amount of lateral movement for the fast bowlers, with the average of 0.88° off the seam ranked fourth across all games in the tournament so far. The venue itself, across the competition, is ranked number one for swing and seam offered to pace bowlers, and second for turn for the spinners.

“There is definitely going to be talk about the pitch because it is the worst we’ve seen at this World Cup,” Hartley added.

“I don’t mind seeing 130 play 130, both sides are then in the game with bat and ball. But this has been horrific.”

Speaking during the South Africa innings, Finn added: “We’ve not seen a South Africa batter play a shot with any certainty about where the ball is going to come through.

“That makes it a very uneven contest. Fascinating but uneven.”

Commentator Geoff Lemon suggested that the pitch was such that a longer format match might have been called off.