 South African captain Graeme Smith and Zimbabwean skipper Elton Chigumbura have slammed the Chennai wicket and called it unfit for ODI cricket. The two teams were involved in a practice match at the Chepauk in Chennai and found it to be under-prepared for this format of the game.
According to Smith, the track was very slow and failed to get any lift. He also added that despite the slowness of the track, he was impressed by the manner in which Morne Morkel bowled on it. Smith also said that with the advent of the heat over the next couple of months, the tracks can be expected to play
much slower over time and that will make batting very difficult for the sides.
The dew also came in for criticism by the captain. He said that the dew made bowling very difficult for those bowling second and that is a problem that will be faced by all the sides in the tournament given the number of day-night games in the tournament.
Thankfully for the side, they had batted second, which meant that the Zimbabwean side was at the receiving end of both, the slow tracks in the first session and difficulties with the dew in the second innings.
South Africa also had Imran Tahir bowl rather well in the game and saw him
pick up three wickets. He was praised by both, the South African captain Smith
and the Zimbabwean coach Alan Butcher.
Smith also said that Tahir bowled well and was helped by the under-preparedness
of the pitch, which was the cause of all the problems. He also said that the
other spinners in the playing eleven, Robin Petersen and Johan Botha did very
well and the side will be a force to reckon with in the tournament.
What the South African captain will need to do is to select his best eleven
and it is difficult to see them go ahead with three spinners in the side. Given
that it will shorten their batting, one may see one of three being rested for
the actual World Cup.
South Africa were also dealt with a scare as their pace bowler Lonwobo Tsotsobe
got injured while fielding in the outfield. He seemed to have slipped while
fielding and looked to be struggling with pain when he was carried off the field.
The extent of his injury is not yet known and further tests will be carried
out.
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