Mickey slams pitch
BAVUMA HITS BACK AND SAYS SURFACE IS FAR FROM DANGEROUS Proteas batsmen weather the storm to stretch lead to 205.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur admitted that his team were “significantly outplayed” on the first two days of the second Test against South Africa at Newlands yesterday, but he still had a grumble about conditions that he said were not good for Test cricket.
On a pitch that featured inconsistent bounce from the first day, as well as plenty of sideways movement off cracks and grassy patches, Pakistan had been shot out for just 177, to which South Africa had replied with 382/6 by stumps on day two. But the lead of 205 required plenty of hard graft from the home batsmen, who had to weather many blows to the body, close shaves and enjoyed some luck in terms of decisions.
“We’ve been significantly outplayed, it’s not like Centurion where we were 100/1 and missed an opportunity. We haven’t played well enough yet here. But I have to say I’m disappointed by the standard of the pitches, they’re not good enough for Test cricket, they’re too inconsistent. The difference in scores is because South Africa are bowling at 145km/h on it and we’re only at 135.
“South Africa are always going to ask for bounce and pace against sub-continent teams here, but these pitches have been very weighted in favour of the bowlers. We’ve had about seven stoppages on day two due to the ball hitting cracks and then the batsman, and the uneven bounce makes it very difficult. I believe in a good contest but these pitches have been significantly worse than when I was last here,” former Proteas coach Arthur said yesterday.
The key performances for the home side on the second day came from courageous captain Faf du Plessis, who fought his way to a tremendous century, and Temba Bavuma, who has made known his ability to rise to the occasion in the toughest circumstances, scoring a tenacious 75 yesterday as he helped his skipper add 156 for the fifth wicket.
Having prospered in several other highly-challenging situations for the Proteas, Bavuma knew exactly what was required.
“It was challenging, a tricky pitch and compared to Centurion, any deviation was quicker which made it hard to adjust. But it wasn’t impossible. As a batsman, you just have to try and embrace it, you need to make peace that you’re going to take a few on the body. But I wouldn’t call it dangerous, Faf and I are both still alive.
“It was a mammoth innings from Faf, he took more blows to the body and had more balls whizzing past his helmet, but he’s still just focused on the next ball. His calming influence is his biggest trait, we shared game-plans and we just tried to stay positive and remind ourselves to put away the bad ball. The pitch also reacts more to the new ball,” he said.