Brutal pitch stops India
Match officials stopped play in the third cricket test between South Africa and India because of a dangerous pitch, an extremely rare decision taken after South African batsman Dean Elgar was hit in the grill of the helmet by a bouncer from fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and needed a concussion test.
The move by match officials to take players off because of concerns over their safety was only the third time in the history of test cricket that a game has been stopped in this way.
The game wasn’t completely called off, though. After meetings involving match officials and team captains Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, it was decided the test would continue, the International Cricket Council said.
‘‘The on-field umpires, in consultation with the match referee, and after speaking with both the captains and groundsmen, have decided that the Johannesburg Test will resume,’’ the ICC said in a statement.
Elgar and Hashim Amla returned to the crease last night, NZ time, where they proceeded to frustrate the Indian attack with some solid resistance at the start of the test’s fourth day.
Cricket’s ruling body said onfield umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar had called players off on day three because they wanted to consult with match referee Andy Pycroft ‘‘regarding the condition of the pitch’’. Elgar was the latest in a series of batsmen from both teams to be hit by the ball on a fast, bouncy and unpredictable surface at the Wanderers. He was the first to be hit on the head, though, with others getting struck on the fingers, and in the ribs and midriff.
‘‘I think that if it’s hitting the rib cage or the fingers, I think you can maybe get away with it,’’ South Africa team manager Mohammed Moosajee said. ‘‘But if it’s hitting a batsman in the face ...’’
There had been signs throughout the third day that the umpires were worried over the surface, and both team managers were called into Pycroft’s office at the tea break to be told the officials were considering ruling the pitch dangerous.
The blow to Elgar’s helmet, which came after he had been also hit on the hand and on the hip, was the final straw.
The decision to stop play infuriated India, which had a 223-run lead and was in control of a game they desperately want to win after already losing the series and facing an embarrassing 3-0 whitewash.
But there had been warnings. Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding said earlier in the day that the game should be stopped.
‘‘This is not a cricket pitch, this is dangerous. Call it off, forget it,’’ Holding told the cricinfo.com website.
-AP
This is not a cricket pitch, this is dangerous. Michael Holding