A challenging two-day victory by Australia over South Africa has prompted Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer to question the Gabba pitch after 19 wickets tumbled on the second day of the first Test.
Australia struggled to 4-35 searching for the 34 runs needed for victory against the hostile South African attack, with David Warner falling for three to go with his first innings golden duck. The third Test in Sydney during January shapes as his last hurrah in Test cricket.
Mitchell Starc (2-26) became just the seventh Australian to claim 300 Test wickets on another day of carnage, with captain Pat Cummins claiming 5-42 as South Africa struggled to 99 in their second innings thanks to a last-wicket partnership of 30 between top scorer Khaya Zondo (36 not out) and last man Lungi Ngidi (9).
It was just the second two-day Test ever played in Australia. The first was against a fledgling West Indian side in Melbourne in 1931, when spinner Bert Ironmonger claimed 11 wickets.
“I haven’t seen one as green,” Ponting said of the pitch. “Matthew Hayden played here more than me, and he hasn’t seen one as green and Justin Langer said he hasn’t seen one as green … there was excessive seam movement.”
An appreciative crowd of 18,206 made the attendance for the two days 47,512, more than all five days of the first Test against the West Indies in Perth. Ticket holders for days three and four will receive a refund.
Pat Cummins celebrates one of his five second-innings scalps on the green Gabba pitch.Credit:AP
It was the third time this year that South Africa have lost within two days of playing time, highlighting their weak batting line-up. Three players in their top seven average under 30 and captain Dean Elgar has scored 13 of the team’s 16 centuries.
The victory has given Australia a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and an even firmer grip on a place in the World Test Championship, to be held at The Oval in June ahead of The Ashes.
Resuming at 5-145, Australia were bowled out for 218, a lead of 66, and looked for a time as though they could win by an innings, reducing South Africa to 6-48.
The match offered glimpses of Australia’s Boxing Day Test victory last year when England were bowled out for 68 to lose by an innings at lunch on the third day. Next week’s MCG pitch is unlikely to have as much grass as the 2021 version.
The end appears nigh for Australian opener David Warner.Credit:AP
Travis Head took his overnight score of 78 from 77 balls to 92 on Sunday, the highest score in the match and just the second half-century after South African wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne scored 64 on the opening day.
Cummins won the toss and bowled on Saturday, the first time an Australian captain has sent the opposition in at the Gabba since Steve Waugh in 2000. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, now Australia’s bowling coach, was the last visiting captain to do it in 2008. Australia won both Tests.
Ponting believes the pitch will be ranked ‘poor’ by the International Cricket Council match referee Richie Richardson.
“These are very, very good bowling teams, no doubt, but I don’t think that the batting teams are that bad,” Ponting said.
Kyle Verreyne, one of few standouts for South Africa with the bat, sits on a pitch almost indistinguishable from the surrounding outfield.Credit:AP
“Speaking to some of the players this morning, they seemed to think it is as difficult a surface they have ever played on. A lot of these guys have played a lot of cricket. They have played on some pretty tough wickets in different places around the world.”
Hayden believes there was excessive movement off the seam.
“In my opinion, it started too green,” he said. “And that’s from someone who has seen this (pitch) from a very young age. There is no need to make it so full of grass, such heavy grass content. Because it seamed too much.”
Ponting said he had been coming to the Gabba for 30 years and never seen a pitch like it.
“This is the only one that I’ve ever seen that’s been unsatisfactory so far in the game,” he said. “You’ve got to cut them (the ground staff) a bit of slack. We are not perfect. We can’t get it right all the time. It looks to me that they have overcooked this one on the grass. But they don’t get it wrong too often up here.”
Ponting believes that uneven bounce was also a problem, saying there were divots created by the ball in difficult areas for the batsmen.
“If the ball lands on the front part of the divots, the part closer to the bowler, they will stay down. If they land on the far end of the divot, that’s the ones that will go up.”
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