CAPE TOWN: The Cape Town pitch even caused problems for their own batsmen, but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis issued a warning to India, revealing that he expects Centurion and Johannesburg tracks to behave similarly to that of Newlands.
Despite rain consuming one entire day’s play, the TUest finished under four days with 18 wickets falling on Monday. Day One saw 13, while Day Two witnessed nine as bowlers from both sides enjoyed seam and bounce on a surface that has traditionally got flatter as the Test progressed. On Monday, the Indian attack showed it is not far behind that of the hosts’ as they picked eight wickets in the first session to bowl South Africa out for 103.
Du Plessis, though backed his batsmen to cope with challenge better than that of Indians. “I’d like to think that we’re, not just myself, a team that are prepared to take risks to win a game of cricket. We felt, bowling at the Indians, it would be harder for the Indians if there was pace and bounce. It did surprise me a little bit on the first morning, the pace that the pitch had. I think pace and bounce is something that you look for in South Africa. There was movement in this Test. When we go to Pretoria, we will hopefully get the same as well as in Johannesburg. Those are renowned for being a little bit quicker,” he said.