Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday rated the Newlands pitch for the second Test between India and South Africa as "unsatisfactory" after the game ended inside five sessions.
India outplayed the hosts by seven wickets in the match, making it the shortest-ever in the history of Test cricket with only 642 balls bowled. The victory allowed India to draw the two-match series 1-1. The decision was made under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
"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," said Chris Broad, the match referee for the Test, in his report submitted to the ICC.
"Several batters were hit on the gloves and many wickets also fell due to the awkward bounce," Broad further wrote.
Subsequently, Newlands was awarded one demerit point while the Cricket South Africa have 14 days to appeal against the sanction. One demerit point is given to venues whose pitches and outfields are rated by the match referee as unsatisfactory.
If a venue reaches six demerit points, it is suspended from hosting any international cricket for 12 months. The penalty is 24 months in case of 12 demerit points. These points remain active for a rolling five-year period. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was exceptionally vocal in his criticism of the Newlands surface.
"We saw what happened in this match, how the pitch played. I don't mind playing on pitches like this. As long as everyone keeps their mouth shut in India and don't talk too much about Indian pitches," Rohit had said in his post-match presser.
"Because you come to Test cricket to challenge yourself. Yes, it is dangerous. It is challenging. So, and when people come to India, it is again pretty challenging as well. If the pitch starts turning (in India), people start talking about 'Puff of dust! Puff of dust!' There's so much crack here (Newlands) on the pitch," he added.
Even South African coach Shukri Conrad was critical of the Cape Town track. "I don't know what people want me to say. You only need to look at the scores. 1.5-day Test match! You need to look at how they chased 80 (79). It's a sad state when you need more luck than skill. All the ethics and values of Test cricket go out the window," Conrad had said.
However, all of it would not take any sheen out of an Indian victory on which pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah came up with splendid spells. Siraj' six for 15 skittled South Africa for 55 in their first innings, while India managed a 98-run lead on the back of their 153. A brilliant counter-attacking hundred from Aiden Markram in the third innings went in a vain as India chased down the 79-run target with seven wickets in hand. Bumrah took his second six-for in the second Proteas innings.
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