Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc steered Australia to a thrilling three-wicket win with a ball to spare in the T20 International at the Metricon Stadium.
The Aussies needed 11 to win from Sheldon Cottrell’s final over, with wicketkeeper-batsman Wade (39 not out from 29 balls) needing seven runs off Ramon Reifer.
Kyle Meyers failed to hold on to another opportunity in the deep to dismiss Starc on the fourth ball, before the pacer took advantage of his relief to dismiss the hosts on two balls.
Despite the exciting end to the game, there were only a few thousand fans to watch on the field. The spectators watching the game on TV were astonished by the number of empty red seats at the Metricon Stadium.
One viewer tweeted, ‘Bumper crowd in Gold Coast – must have been 150 fans.’
Another fan wrote: ‘No international sporting event can give Gold Coast a cricket after this crowd.’
A third added: ‘Absolutely fun of the crowd. Let’s say there are more players and support staff in the field than the actual fans.’
The Gold Coast is not known as a hub for live sports, but the low turnout for Australia’s first domestic T20I season just weeks away from the T20 World Cup will be a cause for concern for administrators.
Some fans pointed to the lack of marketing and awareness of the incident.
One viewer wrote, ‘I’m an hour and a half away from the Gold Coast in Brisbane and didn’t even know I had seen any commercials until this morning.’
Another addition: ‘The Gold Coast is a dead place for sport. Throw in very little publicity to affix the boot and this is your result.’
‘Experience the worst day ever at live sporting event bar for cricket tonight. Most of the stadium is closed. One bar and two food stalls for the whole crowd. The line for a beer is an hour long. What a joke,’ replied the third.
The T20 World Cup will begin on October 16 and will see 16 countries take on seven Australian cities.