Paceless pitch baffles Morkel

Fast bowler Morne Morkel is a Titans stalwart but he left no-one in any doubts that the Proteas are truly dismayed by the pitch conditions they have encountered at Centurion for the second Test against India.

South Africa go into the penultimate day leading by 118 runs with eight wickets in hand, but it has been very hard work for them on a pitch that more closely resembles in colour, dryness and pace the sort of surfaces India are used to at home. And there has been sharp turn, the biggest thing the Proteas did not want to gift to their opposition in this series.

“I’ve played here all my life and I’ve never seen a pitch like this one. It’s been really hard work, that was one of the hardest innings I’ve had to bowl in. It’s the lack of pace in the pitch; there’s a small window with the new ball and in the first hour, maybe because the pitch has been under covers and is a bit quicker, but otherwise there’s absolutely no pace.

“The bounce is very tennis-ball-like, especially from the West Lane End, and it’s definitely not ideal. It’s unheard of that a spinner would bowl so many overs on the first day and the pitch has a very sub-continent feel – it’s tough to score runs and it’s tough to get people out. It’s definitely not the conditions we want in South Africa,” Morkel said after toiling for 22.1 overs to take four for 60.

India were also grumpy after play because they felt they had been rushed back on to the field too early after an hour-long rain delay. When the rain descends on the highveld, especially after a heatwave, then it tends to come down in buckets, and the tourists obviously felt the field was still damp when they returned 40 minutes after the thundershowers had stopped.

“The ball was swinging a bit but then both sides got wet and there was no swing. We had a word with the umpires because we felt the outfield was too wet and we obviously wanted a dry ball,” Jaspreet Bumrah (below), whose opening burst reduced South Africa to three for two, said.