'I've Never Seen the Pitch Being That Quick': South Africa Batting Coach Criticises Newlands Pitch

The breakneck speed at which the 2nd Test between India and South Africa progressed on the opening day has thrown up a real possibility of the contest being concluded by Day 2 itself should the pitch in Cape Town continue to be a nightmare for batters.

South Africa captain Dean Elgar, playing the final Test of his career, opted to bat first but little would he have envisaged what followed. In the blink of an eye, his team was bundled out in the morning session itself for just 55 runs.

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The Indian batters started well despite an early blow but despite their sizeable lead, underwent a historic collapse to lose their final six wickets for the addition of no run.

And by the time the day’s play concluded, South Africa had lost three batters taking the total tally to 23 wickets on Wednesday itself.

South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince though praised India pacer Mohammed Siraj who ran through the hosts with a six-wicket earlier in the day but also was critical of the Newlands pitch.

“Siraj bowled one of the spells of his life,” Prince said after the day’s play. “If you combine that with two good bowlers with the new ball in their hands in favourable conditions, that is what you get.”

Prince said the pitch does get quicker on the second day but he was concerned by the inconsistent bounce as well.

“Having played a lot of cricket on this ground, and having also been a coach here, I have never seen the pitch being that quick on day one. It usually speeds up on day two,” Prince said.

“But you need the bounce to be consistent. I think the bounce was a little bit inconsistent. You have seen some balls bouncing steep and some keeping low. But you don’t mind the seam movement on day one. The amount of balls that took off from length and keepers took above their heads was extensive,” he added.

He also felt that the construction work adjacent to the stadium may have impact the pitch. “I don’t know if the lots of construction taking place here are affecting this pitch. If two line-ups can’t bat on a surface, that says a lot,” Prince said.