The crosswind at the Daren Sammy Stadium in Gros Islet, St. Lucia, has become a major factor impacting team strategies and outcomes in T20 World Cup matches. Blowing diagonally from the Party Stand in the direction of the Johnson Charles Stand, the wind has an average speed of 15–16 kph, sometimes reaching up to 20 kph. The wind’s influence was particularly evident in the Super 8 game between England and South Africa on Friday morning. The match was played on a different strip from Wednesday’s match between West Indies and England, which not only evened the square boundaries but also amplified the wind factor. The low stands and grass banks at the stadium offer no protection from the wind, whose impact is further exacerbated due to the ground’s proximity to the sea and surrounding hills.
South Africa’s Quinton de Kock capitalized on the wind’s direction. While batting on 58, he slog-swept Adil Rashid, and the ball hung in the air, leading to deep mid-wicket fielder Mark Wood misjudging its flight and missing the catch. De Kock went on to add seven more runs to his tally, ultimately proving to be the margin of England’s defeat. Earlier, De Kock had benefited when Jos Buttler turned to Jofra Archer in the PowerPlay. Archer’s wicket-to-wicket line allowed De Kock to hit downwind to the leg side, his strong suit. He hooked one for six, drove another to wide long-on for a maximum, and played an uppercut for four when Archer overcompensated by going wide outside off. De Kock highlighted the wind’s influence, saying, “Wind’s definitely a big factor, especially opening the batting when you’ve only got two guys out. You’ve got to use that wind as much as you can: don’t fight it, just try and use it. But I think it’s going to be like that for the whole of the rest of the World Cup when wind definitely plays a big factor.”
In contrast, England’s batters struggled against the breeze. Jonny Bairstow, Buttler, and Moeen Ali were all caught hitting into the wind. A crucial setback occurred when Kagiso Rabada bowled a full toss, and Liam Livingstone smashed it into the wind, only to find Tristan Stubbs on the boundary, the wind resisting the ball’s flight. England was four down for 139 going into the 18th over, a dismissal that jolted their momentum. However, the most significant blow came in the final over. With 14 runs needed off six balls, a set Harry Brook, batting on 53 off 36, attempted to clear long-off, only for Proteas captain Aiden Markram to run back, leap, and hold on to the catch. What made the catch remarkable was that the ball was carrying with the wind, requiring Markram to accurately assess its speed and trajectory and time his jump perfectly. De Kock praised Markram’s exceptional catch, saying, “I don’t think the TV does it justice. There was a massive left-to-right wind from my direction—maybe like 40–50 kph. It’s not that the ball’s just getting pushed, but also getting moved that way, and he actually turned on the inside, so the ball’s always moving towards the boundary. Credit goes to Aiden. Everybody takes high catches, but he practises those catches all the time. He won us a moment in the game today.”
Buttler discussed how the wind factor influences team selection, saying, “We need to have a fourth seamer and another left-handed batter. So, it gives us another option to have somebody hit with the wind.” The Daren Sammy Ground will host its final match on Sunday, a Super 8 fixture between India and Australia. Australia has already played a match here against Scotland, which they won. In that game, Travis Head received a significant reprieve in the fifth over of the chase. Head launched a Chris Sole delivery high into the night sky, and as Michael Jones ran back to track the ball in the swirling wind, he couldn’t latch on to the catch. Head went on to score a match-winning 68. This will be India’s first visit to the island in this World Cup, and Rohit Sharma’s men will need to account for the wind factor during their net session on the eve of the match.
