In a bizarre turn of events, ground staff at the Maple Leaf North-West Ground in King City set part of the pitch on fire to dry it ahead of the Cricket World Cup League 2 clash between Namibia and Scotland. Despite the unusual attempt, persistent dampness on the pitch and outfield forced officials to call off the game after multiple inspections.

Images of the charred pitch quickly went viral, with Cricket Scotland’s X account posting photos of players from both teams watching the unusual sight as ash marks were left on the square. Heavy rainfall earlier in the day had already delayed proceedings, and despite extraordinary drying efforts, the surface was deemed unplayable before the cutoff time of 9:02 pm local time.

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Both sides eventually shared the points. The result leaves Namibia in sixth place on the CWC League 2 standings, with eight wins and 13 losses under captain Gerhard Erasmus.

Game off ☹️

A frustrating day in Toronto. We try again on Sunday against the hosts 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#FollowScotland pic.twitter.com/g69mugExDC

— Cricket Scotland (@CricketScotland) August 29, 2025

Scotland, currently third with 11 wins and seven losses, suffered their third abandoned match of the tournament but maintain a strong net run rate of +0.886. USA remain on top of the points table with a commanding 70% win rate from 20 matches, while Nepal and UAE occupy seventh and eighth spots, respectively, both having played 16 games.

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The abandoned match has drawn attention not only for its impact on the standings but also for the extraordinary drying tactics, which have sparked debate about pitch management in international cricket.