PLAYS OF THE DAY
NO PARTHIV IT There’s still been no official word on what ails Wriddhiman Saha, who set a new record for India in Test cricket last week, taking 10 catches at Newlands. Virat Kohli at the toss said his absence was down to a hamstring injury, but there’s still been no official word from the BCCI - who were very quick to tweet about Mohammed Shami’s headache in this Test - about Saha. His replacement Parthiv Patel has been less than secure. He dropped Hashim Amla in the first innings and yesterday inexplicably failed to move to an easy ball, that went between him and first slip off Dean Elgar. The glare from Kohli summed it up. CATCH On the flip side, Faf du Plessis hung onto an absolute beauty at first slip. The cordon was in very tight for Vernon Philander, and the thick edge from Ravi Ashwin propelled the ball like rocket in the direction of Du Plessis. ASHWIN Credit where it’s due. It was a gutsy effort from Ashwin with the bat yesterday morning in which he displayed greater skill and guts than some of his frontline batting colleagues. The support he provided to Kohli, led to a key partnership in the game, and has kept India in touch with South Africa. QUOTE “I’ve played cricket here all my life and I’ve never seen a wicket like that at SuperSport Park. It was really hard work. It’s right up there with one of the hardest spells I’ve bowled. From a bowling point of view, it’s definitely not the ideal surface” - Morne Morkel. This is not the kind of surface on which South Africa wants to play India. CASTLE TANK-ED In between the bars selling the usual ale, SAB also line up truck that was selling ‘Tank Beer’ - basically beer straight from the tank and not in any kegs. It’s been very popular and is some tasty stuff. And then, yesterday, day THREE of the Test, the tank ran dry. That’s some very poor planning. We suggest they up their game for the third Test next week. WEATHER The rain brought some welcome relief after what have been three very hot days in this second Test. As for the pitch, baking in that heat, has seen it start to misbehave and Ashwin got one to ‘explode’ from outside the left-hander’s off-stump to Elgar. It’ll only get worse, with temperatures in the low 30 degrees Celcius expected for the last two days.