Pitched Battle: Play stopped after SA opener Dean Elgar gets hit on his helmet grill
Johannesburg: Indian batsmen were not afraid to take blows on their bodies on a difficult Wanderers pitch, offering dangerous bounce, even as match officials called off third day’s play when South Africa batted in similar conditions later, here on Friday.
South Africa opener Dean Elgar was hit on the grill of his helmet by a Mohammed Shami delivery in the ninth over of the hosts second innings, prompting umpires to halt play. The physio rushed to the pitch and Elgar was seen placing an ice-pack on his forehand. Umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar began discussion and soon match referee Andy Pycroft joined them on the ground. They initiated deliberations with both the captains, players were called off the ground and play never resumed after that.
Former players Sunil Gavaskar and Jonty Rhodes, watching the proceedings from the commentary box felt that the pitch had nothing to do with the Shami delivery that hit Elgar. The fate of the match is still unknown but courageous batting by the Indians has put them in a strong position. Chasing a stiff 241, the hosts ended the day three 17 for one in 8.3 overs. They lost other opener Aiden Markram (4), caught behind off Shami. Ajinkya Rahane, whose exclusion from the first two Tests led to severe criticism of team’s selection policy, showed what Indian team missed out earlier in the series with his dogged 48-run knock.
The diminutive batsman was not perturbed after being consistently hit on his arms and dismissal of skipper Virat Kohli (41) as he raised a match-defining 55-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (33). Before Rahane, opener Murali Vijay (25) and Kohli were also hit on their hands.
The on-field umpires were seen discussing the pitch condition, being consistently criticised by the commentators, but never halted play. Rahane and Bhuneshwar’s seventh wicket partnership coupled with some lusty blows from Mohammed Shami (27) in a splendid rearguard action meant that India managed to put on board 247, setting the visitors a stiff 241-run target.
The Indian skipper too showed intent to continue batting, aware that they had almost touched a defendable score. Kohli looked class apart and went past MS Dhoni (3454 runs in 60 Tests) in the list of most runs as Test skipper. He was bowled off an unplayable delivery that seamed in off the pitch from Kagiso Rabada (3/69) in the 50th over. Rahane, meanwhile, played some attacking shots, primarily off Morne Morkel as India’s lead crossed 150. Kumar looked solid at the other end and the two looked to rotate strike as often as they could.
They were helped by South Africa’s poor effort in the field. Elgar first dropped Kumar (on 15) at gully off Morkel in the 59th over. Six balls later, Andile Phehlukwayo dropped Rahane (on 38) at deep point off Rabada. Just before tea, the duo brought up their 50-partnership off 68 balls, almost knocking the wind out of the Proteas. In the morning session, Rabada had hit Kohli in the 31st over and then Vijay in the 35th over, both on their hands as they failed to fend off sharp, rising deliveries. This was after Vijay and Kohli put on 43 runs for the 4th wicket as India reached 100 for 4 at lunch.
Score card
‘This is not a cricket pitch’ Two out of 100 [is my rating for the pitch]. It’s a s**t pitch. You can interpret that. They should have called it off when Vijay got hit. This is not a cricket pitch, this is dangerous. Call it off, forget it. You can’t play cricket on that. I have no idea what has gone wrong but I know it’s not a good cricket pitch. The last time I saw something like this, the match was abandoned — in Jamaica 1998, and it didn’t even last this long.
— Michael Holding,
former West Indian pacer
I’d give it a 3 out of 10. The unfortunate thing is that nobody minds movement off the surface, but it's the uneven bounce that's the problem and it is quite dangerous from a batting point of view when you have pace attacks bowling around the 140 mark, tall bowlers hitting the deck hard. It is dangerous and it’s not ideal.
— Kepler Wessels,
former South Africa captain
When you have the physio coming on the field so often to attend to injuries received by batsmen on their hands and chest, we are certainly in the territory of keeping an eye on this pitch and see if it’s dangerous.
— Sanjay Manjrekar,
former India batsman
It’s not the ideal pitch. As a batsman you want the bounce to be consistent. The bounce on this pitch has made it unplayable for batting. [But] I think we should see how it plays for another session [after lunch on Day Three] before deciding on whether to call it off.
— Sunil Gavaskar,
former India captain
Naughty pitch. Yeah, misbehaving and how. Not good for cricket. Not done, ICC must look into it.
— Harbhajan Singh, former India spinner
To play Test cricket on this surface is unfair. Saw it in NZ in 2003. Batsman have minimum chance. ICC should look into it.
— Sourav Ganguly, former India captain
