Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
“After the 13th over, the ball looked like it was 60 overs old”
Following a rather lacklustre first day, South Africa pace bowler Morne Morkel has hinted that India may have the upper hand throughout the second Test since the pitch at Durban “looks like a subcontinent wicket”.
“I am very surprised with the wicket here,” Morkel said. “It looks like a sub-continent wicket.
“It is really dry and a little on the slower side. After the 13th over, the ball looked like it was 60 overs old.
“But as a bowling unit we need to soak it in. We need to bowl according to a plan, only to one side of the wicket. We need to stop the flow of runs, if wickets don’t come our way. It is a good break for us, and we can go back and re-plan for tomorrow.”
Surprisingly enough, Morkel, who sustained an ankle ligament injury in the first Test, was the only South African bowler to take a wicket on the first day.
“We are hoping the ball can reverse a bit more tomorrow,” he said. “We need to come out and stick to a plan and take a couple of early wickets while they aren’t settled. And then wait for the new ball.”
Speaking about his ankle injury, Morkel said: “I had an MRI scan done and they said it was a grade three injury. Then we did a sonar scan and we found out it was only grade one. So I went into rehab and worked hard with our medical team. They did some magic and the swelling went away and we worked on fitness. I am really happy to be playing this match, especially since this is Jacques Kallis’ last Test.”
Morkel admitted that he was shocked and surprised upon hearing the news of Kallis’ decision to retire from Test cricket following this match.
“It was a big shock for me,” he said. “I found out two days ago. I guess he had been planning this for some time and maybe this news gave me 10 per cent more inspiration to get fit and play this match. He is a very good friend of mine and I didn’t want to miss his last match.”
Morkel also refused to talk about why South Africa hadn’t gone for the win in the first Test in Johannesburg and added that the entire team was focused on winning this match in order to give Kallis the perfect farewell.
“To be honest, we didn’t talk about the past record,” Morkel said. “We can’t control that. When we arrived here, we heard about Kallis and with how we finished at Wanderers, we were pumped up for this game. To me it doesn’t matter if we bat or bowl first, we need to make a good start. And it will be crucial what we do tomorrow morning.
“I hope we don’t lose too many overs because of the weather. I hope it is a good Test and a good farewell (for Kallis).”