Reactions to Newlands Cape Town pitch – 23 wickets fall on day 1 of SA vs IND Test

Last Updated on 2 hours by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: Fans react to the pitch at Newlands in Cape Town after 23 wickets fall on day one of the SA vs IND Test

Whoever coined day three as “moving day” wouldn’t have wanted to catch day one of the second Test between South Africa and India at Newlands. A remarkable 23 wickets fell on the opening day of the New Year’s Test at Cape Town, with India losing six wickets for no runs to collapse to 153 all-out after South Africa were rolled for 55 in the first session. The Proteas then finished on 62/3 in their second innings, still trailing by 36 heading into day two.

The day marked the end of Dean Elgar’s Test career from a batting perspective. He, along with Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs, were dismissed twice on a manic day that has put spotlight on the Newlands pitch. Fans from the subcontinent, especially India, questioned what the furore would have been had 23 wickets fallen on a spinning track. After all, one can understand their reasoning given this surface had uneven bounce and cracks on the first day of the match, culminating in excessive seam movement plus deliveries that both reared up and stayed low.

Mohammed Siraj (6/15) and the South African trio of Kagiso Rabada (3/38), Lungi Ngidi (3/30) and Nandre Burger (3/42) had a field day as only Virat Kohli (46), Rohit Sharma (39), Shubman Gill (36) and Aiden Markram (36*) crossed 20. A total of seven batsmen across both teams were dismissed without scoring, including five of India’s last six. A total of seven India players were dismissed for naught, a Test record.

Fans react to Newlands pitch in Cape Town

Ravi Shastri made headlines for his commentary after India collapsed to be bowled out for 153. “If someone went around the corner for a dump and has come back, India have been bowled out for 153,” he hilariously said. But, the spotlight was on the Cape Town surface, with fans making their views heard on Twitter. Indeed, it will be interesting to see how the ICC responds after the match.

“Plenty of chat about the Test match. India’s collapse, Ravi Shastri commentary, Siraj spell and batsman being out twice in a day. But little being said about the pitch curator? He would be under the spotlight elsewhere,” one fan said. Here are some of the reactions to the pitch at Newlands, including from Sachin Tendulkar and Aakash Chopra.

If this pitch was in India.. intl media would’ve created ruckus and made sure it was rated poor!!

— Paras Mehta (@parascm) January 3, 2024

Cricket in ‘24 begins with 23 wickets falling in a single day.
Unreal!
Boarded a flight when South Africa was all out, and now that I’m home, the TV shows South Africa has lost 3 wickets.
What did I miss?#SAvIND

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 3, 2024

2-day Test match??

Shhh 🤫 nobody will say a word about the pitch please 🙏🏽 #SAvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 3, 2024

I don’t think the grass is the issue. It’s the massive crack in the middle. Sorry, but this is a terrible pitch

— Quintin Davis (@quintindavis) January 4, 2024

I feel for Braam Mong. This is the first international pitch he has prepared at Newlands. Conditions have been scorching, so he decided to leave extra grass on to ensure that the cracks on the pitch don’t open up early. It backfired

Hopefully he gets a chance to redeem himself

— Werner (@Werries_) January 4, 2024

If 23 wicket fall on India, then Rest of world will cry on bad pitch bad pitch and it gone trending all over the world 🤣🤣

— Kirkett (@bhaskar_sanu08) January 3, 2024

Unpopular opinion but 20 wickets in a day isn’t entertaining test cricket.
It’s shite.

— Scott Button (@Scott_Button12) January 3, 2024

What if 23 wickets fell on day one of a test match in Pakistan or Sri Lanka? 🤔#SAVIND

— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) January 4, 2024

Is it a shocking pitch at Newlands ? Marque fixture of the season in SA and will be done and dusted in 2 days or so.shame and seems a crazy situation You don’t want a flat featherbed of a pitch but surely a pitch that takes the game deep and give a chance for 4/5 days of crowds.

— Niall John O Brien (@niallnobiobrien) January 3, 2024

Nobody would dare to talk about this Newlands pitch apart from Pollock?

— Aritra Mukherjee (@aritram029) January 3, 2024

I don’t want to be ‘dismissive’ about this Newlands pitch, but after 20 of them in three sessions, do I have a choice!

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) January 3, 2024

Well its never a bad pitch unless its a spin friendly track.

— Akshay (@iAkshP) January 3, 2024

Been at Newlands cricket ground today, this pitch needs a commission of enquiry, 23 wickets to fall on one day of a test match. We have to fight on. pic.twitter.com/DjbxNroKoV

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) January 3, 2024

Surely @icc must rate this Newlands wicket as the worst surface to be ever played on?
23 wickets in a single day!!! Not good advertisement for the game, eh??#SAvIND

— Rishit_Sachinist •EF• 5.0? (@RishitShukla) January 4, 2024