The International Cricket Council (ICC) declared the Newlands pitch, where India secured victory against South Africa in less than two days last week, “unsatisfactory” on Tuesday.
India triumphed by seven wickets in Cape Town last Thursday, levelling the two-match series in a contest that lasted a mere 107 overs, marking it as the shortest Test match to yield a result.
On Tuesday, the ICC revealed that match referee Chris Broad’s report highlighted “the concerns of the match officials and captains Dean Elgar and Rohit Sharma, both of whom felt that the pitch was below standard.”
Quoting Broad in its statement, the ICC conveyed, “The pitch in Newlands was very difficult to bat on.
The ball bounced quickly and sometimes alarmingly throughout the match, making it difficult to play shots.
Several batters were hit on the gloves, and many wickets also fell due to the awkward bounce.”
The ICC assigned one demerit point to Newlands for this incident. The more severe rating of ‘unfit’ carries three demerit points.
If a venue accumulates six demerit points within a five-year period, it faces suspension from hosting international cricket for 12 months.
Cricket South Africa retains the right to appeal the demerit point.
