' Yeh toh hona hi tha'- Fans react as Apex Cricket Council rates Newland's Ground in Cape Town 'unsatisfactory'

The Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is one of the most popular grounds in South Africa which has been hosting matches since the 19th century. This stadium has been known for hosting some memorable games in the long run. The newlands have hosted 56 Test matches and 41 one day internationals and has been a part of some great games in the history of cricket. The ground might have been neck and neck for the proteas as they have won 23 out of the 56 Test matches and drawn 11, but has had a dominant record at this venue in One Day Internationals with 30 wins and only 6 losses.

Known to be a batting friendly wicket where big totals are made the last match played at this venue saw the bowlers dominate the batters. The Proteas were surprised early on when they got bowled out for just 55 runs in the 1st innings making it their lowest total at this venue. However the South African bowlers came back into the match and got the Indians bowled out for 153, where the visitors also lost their last 6 wickets without scoring a run a lot of records on day 1. The match ended on the 2nd day with South Africa getting bowled out once again for 176 and gave India a target of just 79 runs which they chased down easily. This was also officially one of the shortest Test matches in the history of cricket.

Council’s final verdict on the ground

The Apex Cricket Council started their inspection of the ground as well and have given their final verdict terming the Newland’s ground as unsatisfactory. This led to mixed reactions from the fans as well. The pitch was criticised before by fans as well due to the uneven bounce and seam movement the bowlers were getting. Except for Aiden Markram and Virat Kohli no batter seemed to look comfortable on this wicket at all. There were even some people rating it one of the worst pitches they ever saw.

The pitch in Cape town might have given us one of the most memorable matches where we saw the Indians win their first game at the venue and be the first Asian team to beat South Africa at the Newlands. However we cannot ignore the fact that this was also the most bizarre match you will ever witness in international cricket. The conditions were looking risky as we also saw bouncers being bowled on a good length which should not be the case. It might not be the most terrible pitch in the world, but it surely was not the safest wicket as well.

Here's how the fans have reacted-

The ICC has rated Newlands Capetown pitch as 'Unsatisfactory' 🙏🎉👍😍🔥🎊

— 👑RD चौधरी👑 (@RD_CHOUDHARY07) January 9, 2024

Even on a risky pitch, Virat Kohli, the king, didn't flinch. That's why he's a true cricket king. 👑🏏

— Sahib Singh (@singh28915) January 9, 2024

Pitch is very bad 💔💔

— Muhammad Tauqeer Hussain (@Tauqeer610890) January 9, 2024

Icc wants each team to bat 90 overs every innings 😂😂

— Karthik (@vsk_says) January 9, 2024

You can say Disaster 😬

20 wickets in a day

— Pankaj (@Pankaj41627) January 9, 2024

It was expected
Pathetic pitch

— Secular Chad (@SachabhartiyaRW) January 9, 2024

Reason given for rating the pitch as "unsatisfactory"

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.

— Anuj Mishra (@anujmishra003) January 9, 2024

Literally this test match would have ben ended in 1 day if Markaram was out on day 1

— Being Indian 🇮🇳 (@SunilSa02606284) January 9, 2024