Newlands pitch punished with a demerit point for an unsporting wicket

India won the second Test against South Africa by seven wickets in Newlands, Cape Town, to level the series 1-1.
 By Darpan Jain Jan 9, 2024, 16:04 IST
Aiden Markram is a good player.?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4
The pitch used for the game has been a talking point since the last week.

India won the second Test against South Africa by seven wickets in Newlands, Cape Town, to level the series 1-1. The pitch used for the game has been a talking point since the last week. The whole match lasted for four and a half sessions, sparking controversy regarding the quality of the track.

South Africa were bowled out on 55 & 176, while India also lost six wickets without scoring any runs in their first innings. The pitch in Cape Town excessively assisted the pacers, as it had uneven bounce even off the fuller-length deliveries. Such uneven bounce can always be dangerous for the batters, given the ball is bound to behave notoriously throughout the course of the game.

It was the shortest Test match ever, lasting only 642 balls. The Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, said he was fine to play on such tracks until the visiting teams don’t complain about Indian surfaces. The South African Test team’s coach, Shukri Conrad, said the wicket was “not great”, and the batters needed “more luck than skill” to succeed.

Also Read: 'He's like an app' - Monty Panesar hails India's Test star ahead of ENG Test series

“Sad state when you need more luck than skill. All the ethics and values of Test cricket go out the window. Everybody knows the wicket wasn't great,” exclaimed Conrad.

Newlands pitch punished with a demerit point for an unsporting wicket

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has given its verdict on the pitch used for the second Test in Cape Town. The ICC has given a demerit point and labelled the track “unsatisfactory”. If a pitch gets six demerit points in five years, it is banned from hosting any international game for 12 months.

The verdict was finalised after the report submitted by the ICC Match Referee Chris Broad on the pitch. Broad stated that the pitch was "very difficult to bat on".

“The pitch in Newlands was very difficult to bat on," Broad said. "The ball bounced quickly and sometimes alarmingly throughout the match, making it difficult to play shots. Several batters were hit on the gloves, and many wickets also fell due to the awkward bounce.”

Cricket South Africa has 14 days to appeal against the verdict. However, the verdict must remain intact. That pitch was threatening and inadequate for an international game.

For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

From around the web