Just as posting and chasing down 200-plus totals have happened quite frequently in the ongoing IPL, quite a few games in Mumbai and Lucknow proved that doing the same isn’t always a cakewalk.

The Lucknow Super Giants had beaten the Gujarat Titans by 33 runs despite scoring only 163/5 at the Ekana International Stadium in Lucknow. And last Friday at the Wankhede in Mumbai, the Kolkata Knight Riders, courtesy spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy as well as pacer Mitchell Starc, won by 24 runs against Mumbai Indians even after getting just 169. On Monday, the Sunrisers Hyderabad batters, too, didn’t find strokeplay too easy at the Wankhede against the MI bowlers as they somehow pushed the total to 173/8.

The pitches in these two venues have had something on offer for the bowlers with the ball gripping on the surface, and slowness of the wicket and variable bounce also at play. All that the bowlers needed to do was get their execution right.

Less than a month remains for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States. In the Caribbean, the pitches are on the slower side as seen in the last decade or so, aiding spinners and slow bowlers.

Even if the surfaces aren’t too slow since this will be a world event, the wickets could be two-paced there, which means posting 200 or beyond won’t be too easy unless a team bowls too badly or a batsman comes up with something sensational.

But what are the power-hitters’ prospects in the drop-in pitches in New York, USA, which will be hosting major cricketing nations such as India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka? The India-Pakistan marquee clash on June 9 aside, the Nassau County International Stadium in New York will also be staging seven other T20 Cup matches.

There will most likely be a touch of Australia’s Adelaide Oval in those drop-in pitches — prepared in Florida since late December 2023 (before being transported to New York in semi-trailer trucks), employing proprietary techniques honed over a decade at Adelaide Oval.

One of the downsides of drop-in pitches is their tendency to become very flat, thereby facilitating batting. “But the Adelaide drop-in pitches are traditionally prized for their exceptional bounce and spin capabilities,” a Cricket Australia official told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

“Throughout a game, the pitch undergoes changes with grass wearing away and conditions evolving. Opting not to send the opposition in is strategic, as the pitch initially favours batting before transitioning to support spin with widening footmarks and unpredictable bounce, particularly in the closing stages of the game.”

The amount of watering and rolling on a drop-in wicket by the groundsmen of the venue concerned also determines its nature. If the conditions in the US play a part in striking some balance between bat and ball, this World Cup will certainly not be reduced to a mere six-hitting competition.