All eyes on the state of Newlands pitch
Tests – which takes us back to Sydney almost two years ago – on anything that could be called a fast bowler’s pitch.
Such was the press’ obsession with the state of the pitch that yesterday’s only real news‚ that Ravindra Jadeja – the third-highest-ranked bowler in cricket – had been hospitalised with a viral infection‚ went unmentioned.
Then again‚ Jadeja is a left-arm spinner.
That‚ by the logic of much of the above‚ will make him a pitiful nonentity on the Pitch From Hell.
Better for him that he stays in bed until the game ends.
To be fair to the obsessives the surface did glint greenly from under its cover‚ and the grass was longer than has been seen on a surface at Newlands for many a Test.
Philander has dismissed Vijay once in the three Tests they have played against each other‚ at Kingsmead in December 2013, when Smith snaffled him at first slip.
Dale Steyn has got the Indian opener three times in six Tests‚ but Steyn’s selection for tomorrow’s match is not assured.
But another more likely member of South Africa’s attack has dismissed Vijay more than anyone: six times in eight games.
Better yet‚ he’s done it in varying conditions – twice in Nagpur and once each in Kolkata‚ Delhi, Durban and Johannesburg.
His name is Morné Morkel‚ and he’s in the form of his life. — DDC