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Lots of focus on green Newlands pitch
- Updated: January 1, 2017
“There might be another 47 all out or something like that here.”
Someone in the know, and we can’t really say which someone in the know, said these words at Newlands on New Year’s Day. They weren’t said quite as robustly as a resolution, nor with as much whimsy as a wish, but with just the right mix of nerves and certainty to be taken seriously.
South Africa have asked the groundstaff to leave much more grass on the pitch than usual, as they did in Port Elizabeth. That strip was designed to turn Rangana Herath into Casper the Friendly Ghost and it succeeded. This one is expected to do the same and more. The thick grass covering could aid seam movement, as it did when South Africa played Australia in November 2011 and the ball moved just enough to cause chaos.
After South Africa were bowled out for 96 replying to 284, Australia were dismissed for 47. Twenty three wickets fell in the day, the record at a South African ground, as some part of all four innings unfolded. Gary Kirsten, who was South Africa’s coach at the time, left the ground to be with his new-born daughter and when he returned asked if there had been rain because the action had been fast-forwarded so much.
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