The International Cricket Council has rated the Newlands pitch used for the second Test between South Africa and India as “unsatisfactory.”
Newlands Pitch Rated as Unsatisfactory
The ICC conducted an assessment of the wicket in the Newlands Cricket Ground as per the ICC Pitch and Outfield monitoring process and the ground is rated as an unsatisfactory pitch.
As per the result of the rating, the venue has received one demerit point. The points are active for five years and if a venue accumulates six demerits points it will be suspended from organizing any international cricket for 12 months.
Newlands has recently featured the second test of India’s South Africa tour where India won the match to level the series. During the match, both teams struggled to make runs as a result of the indifferent bounce.
Around 23 wickets fell on the first day of the second Test, with South Africa bowled out for 55 and India concluded their first innings for 153 runs. They lose their last six wickets without scoring runs.
Finally, India won the match by seven wickets in the second session of the second day. The match lasted only 642 balls, breaking the previous record for the shortest completed match during the match between Australia and South Africa which completed with just 656 balls.
Both side captains, Dean Elgar and Rohit Sharma expressed their disapproval with the pitch to match referee Chris Broad who noted in his report that the two skippers felt the pitch was below standard.
“The pitch in Newlands was very difficult to bat on. 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,” said Broad.
The report has been sent to Cricket South Africa and the board will have 14 days to appeal against the sanction.
South Africa will be hosting New Zealand’s two-match test series starting next month. South Africa and New Zealand will be playing their first test on February 04 at Bay Oval.
