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Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden led the criticism of a green wicket at the Gabba after Australia pulled off a six-wicket victory against South Africa in two days under ridiculous circumstances.
Played for 152 on the first day, the tourists went for 99 shortly after tea on the second day, leaving Australia needing 34 to win and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Travis Head and South African wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne were the only two players to achieve a half-century, with a staggering 34 wickets in less than six sessions in Brisbane.
The pitch at Gabba has come under fire after 34 wickets fell in just two days.
The Australians, however, still lost four wickets in the second digs, with Kagiso Rabada taking 4-13 to remove David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith and Head.
The match lasted 144.2 overs and was the first Test in Australia to be over in two days since the West Indies were defeated in Melbourne in 1931.
Speaking after the match, Ponting criticized the surface, which he believes the International Cricket Council match umpire Richie Richardson will class as “poor”.
“I haven’t seen one this green,” Ponting said of the wicket.
Ricky Ponting (left) felt that the pitch at Gabba was too conducive to seam bowling, while Matthew Hayden (right) noted that the wicket was unnecessarily green.
Gabba curator David Sandurski admitted the acreage in Brisbane wasn’t up to scratch
‘Matthew Hayden played here more than me, and he hasn’t seen a green one and Justin Langer said he hasn’t seen a green one. […] there was excessive movement of the seam.
“These are very, very good bowling teams, for sure, but I don’t think batting teams are that bad.”
Hayden, who has called the Gabba home throughout his domestic career, was similarly critical of the surface, noting that there was too much grass at the wicket.
“In my opinion, it started out too green,” he said. ‘And that’s from someone who’s seen this [pitch] from very young.
South Africa captain Dean Elgar felt that the surface could become dangerous for the players.
Elgar faced a total of 14 balls in his two innings for a combined score of five.
‘There’s no need to make it so full of grass, with such a heavy grass content. Because it seemed too much.
Proteas captain Dean Elgar, who faced a total of 14 balls in his two innings for a combined score of five, criticized the surface as bad publicity for Test cricket.
“You have to ask yourself the question, is it good publicity for our format?” he said. abc.
“Obviously I’m a stickler for this format, you want to see the game last four, five days.”
But Australia’s captain Pat Cummins insisted that the Brisbane deck was “fine” and not dangerous.
The Australian captain finished with five wickets in the second innings and 7-77 for the match.
“Just the way the nature of it, how he started playing, with very pronounced rebounding on the old ball, you’re kind of a hide-and-seek for none as a hitting unit.
‘If you think about it, only two batsmen, maybe three batsmen only applied half decently and scored some decent runs.
“I asked the umpires, ‘How long until it’s potentially unsafe?’ I don’t think it was a very good Test wicket.
And Gabba curator David Sandurski admitted that the surface in Brisbane was not up to Test cricket’s requirements.
Kagiso Rabada took four wickets as Australia chased 34 to win in their second innings
“The proof is in the pudding,” he said. news corporation.
‘The scorecards are there. You can not deny it. Obviously not good enough for a match of this magnitude.
‘Obviously I’m disappointed. Nobody wants to have a two-day trial. All signs in the build up pointed to it being a reasonable wicket.
But Australia captain Pat Cummins insisted that the pitch “was good”, although he conceded that the short-lived nature of the contest was not ideal.
Marnus Labuschagne (left) and Cameron Green (right) finally saw the Australians at home
‘It was certainly complicated.
‘I don’t think the draw had a big factor in the win because it all happened so fast. Two days is probably not ideal.
“I don’t mind when the fielder errs on the greener side from time to time, I’ve played a lot of Test matches when they’ve erred on the flatter side so I think it was the same for both teams.”
‘No way [was it dangerous]it was good.’