South Africa and India set to battle it out in series decider at Cape Town
India and South Africa are all set to compete against each other in the decider of the Test series tomorrow. The pitch for tomorrow's match is expected to be a batting friendly, as it has been over the years in Newlands Cape.
The first two Test matches saw bowling friendly wickets and the batsmen struggled especially in Durban. The wicket in the first Test flattened out after the sun came out, and the South African team took good advantage of that piling a massive first innings
total of 620 runs. In the second Test, the conditions remained difficult throughout the match and the bowlers got some assistance from the pitch every now and then.
The series is nicely poised at 1-1 and both the teams will be eying a win in the final match to take the series. The groundsman at Newlands, Evan Flint said that the wicket will be a good one and it will last five days of the Test match. The wicket at Newlands
has the highest average score compared to any other ground in the country. Flint said that the conditions will be same as in the past. He said, “The pitch won't change too much from previous years.”
Flint recognises the fact that his team would prefer a bouncy track, and he said that he will do his best to prepare a track that suits the home team. Traditionally, the Newlands track supports the batsmen on the first three days and after that it converts
into a spinner friendly track. Flint said, “I would love to get the same bounce as grounds like SuperSport Park and the Wanderers. The type of bounce we get is different; it's more of a tennis-ball bounce.”
The spin factor may come in handy for the Indian team, but the hosts have a very good record at the venue. The team has won 14 matches out of the 21 played at the ground, and lost just three. All three defeats for South Africa were against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. India
has lost three matches to South Africa at Newlands and the most recent defeat came in 2007. Back then the series was also level at one all, before South Africa defeated India to take the series at Newlands.
However, the weather has not been good at Newlands and that has hindered the Flint in preparing the wicket. There is no rain expected during the Test match but the weather has been tricky and challenging for the curators. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 will be hoping to repeat
history on this ground by winning the final match and the series. They will most probably go with the same team as the first two matches. There may be one change in the team, as Ashwell Prince could lose his spot to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742 for the final match.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 will be looking forward to keep the momentum with them. Although they won a low scoring match at Durban, they will have to work very hard to defeat the mighty South African team in home conditions.
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