AB de Villiers has given his verdict on the pitch used for the second Test between the Proteas and India at Newlands.
Newlands groundsman Braam Mong has been heavily criticised for preparing a pitch that offered excessive seam movement and variable bounce.
As a result, 23 wickets fell in 75.1 overs on the first day, with the entire match lasting just 107 overs – an unwanted Test record.
However, De Villiers, speaking on his 360 YouTube show, said the Newlands pitch wasn’t that different to previous incarnations.
“It was a pretty stock-standard wicket, in my opinion. I remember jumping around there on day one when I played there at times.
“If you can just get through the first session on day one, it gets a lot easier [in general]. You could see the players who weren’t just trying to hang around, the guys who were playing their shots and being positive, they were doing well.
“I remember Ben Stokes scoring a double-hundred there. I scored some hundreds there. You can’t allow bowlers like Vernon Philander, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada to keep bowling on off stump.”
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De Villiers said Aiden Markram had taken the right approach to batting on the pitch during his superb century in the Proteas’ second innings.
“Aiden played attacking cricket, getting down the wicket and batting on off-stump.
“I always found batting out of my crease on off-stump worked wonders at Newlands because you’re taking the bowled and lbw dismissals out of play.
“Leaving outside off is also easier then because you know anything outside or away from your eye-line is probably not going to hit the stumps.
“A lot of dismissals were edges in that game, which suggests the batters didn’t force the bowlers to be straighter. When you can start frustrating them and they drag their lengths down, then you can cut and pull.
“It looked a tricky wicket, but there was some pretty poor batting at times and great bowling. I’m not criticising the batters, it’s just that SA’s order was inexperienced and couldn’t have made a few tweaks.”
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De Villiers added that it was important for batsman to have the right mindset.
“Newlands is one of those wickets where you always feel a certain delivery is going to get you out.
“I remember having to save a Test there once [against Australia in 2014] so I just defended a lot outside off. Yet it still didn’t really matter because there’s always a delivery with your name on it on that surface.
“That’s just the way it is.”
