After taking the unassailable lead in the on-going three-match Test series, the confident South African squad had a wonderful start in the third and final Test match against India.
After winning the toss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli made the questionable decision to do bat first. Virat’s decision backfired as visitors were bowl out at the score of 187 on the first day.
South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, who has come into the team for final Test, said that scoring runs on the Wanderers pitch is important.
“We did have a good day. Our efforts on the field were really good bar a few mistakes here and there. 180-odd is really good. The guys put the ball in the right areas and they were rewarded,” said Phehlukwayo.
“It’s a really good wicket (to bowl on). But you’ve got to be really positive and look to score. You have got to get into good positions otherwise there is a ball that has your number on that type of wicket.”
Even though tourist’ total 187 is not that big, yet Andile believes that it’s a decent score.
“You have to be looking ahead of the game. Their total is a decent enough total but it’s not really par. We bowled really well. If you just hang in there and try to get bowlers into 2nd and 3rd spells, you can cash in (as batsmen),” he added.
Apart from Indian skipper Virat Kohli and number three batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, no other Indian batsman was able to leave a mark on South African pacers.
“I looked at who was bowling at that time and Vernon (Philander) bowled eight overs for one run. As much as they were not going anyway, the bowlers did really well and maintained discipline really well. But the way Kohli and Pujara batted was really good,” said Phehlukwayo.
“Kohli at the end was really positive, and Pujara was waiting for bad balls but he didn’t really get many. You’ve got to find a way to try and score on that wicket, and they weren’t going anywhere. If we had added two more wickets, we would have been really into the game,” he added.
The star all-rounder of South Africa also said that Wanderers’ pitch supported the bowlers and if they keep up to line they could cause trouble to the opposing team.
“I was the fifth seamer. My job was to try and hit a length. If there’s nibble on the wicket, try and expose that. Just try to hit top of off stump, with a few bouncers and try getting reward from that.”
“Days four and five will get quite difficult to bat. There are obvious cracks and one ball deviates a lot (off length). It will go up and down. It’s already getting quite difficult from length. If we post a good first innings score, I think it will be a good game,” he concluded.