Vernon warned over pitch
JOSH Hazlewood has warned he’s ready to pounce if South Africa try to turn Vernon Philander’s home ground back into his Garden of Eden.
Last month the Proteas manufactured the Cape Town wicket into a pace bowling minefield for a Test match against India that wouldn’t have lasted three days if not for a rain interruption so brutal was the bounce and speed.
However, for the pivotal third Test starting on Thursday, the South Africans are expected to backflip on that aggressive plan and revert to the slow, seaming deck that Philander has in the past made his own.
Philander claimed his twitter account was “hacked” last week when he made outlandish claims about Steve Smith late at night, but there is no fudging his extraordinary record at Newlands of 47 wickets at just 16 runs per dismissal over eight Test matches.
In the 47-all out horror show Australia were subjected to back in 2011, Philander was utterly unstoppable and took six wickets in that famous rout.