23 wickets in a day - 'It is what it is,' says Prince

Mohammed Siraj credited his remarkable bowling display which helped dismiss South Africa for just 55 before lunch on the first day of the second test at Newlands to a change of attitude from the first test in Centurion.

Siraj bowled unchanged for nine overs to return figures of 9-3-15-6 as the hosts were dismissed for their lowest total in the post-isolation era: “I realised my mistakes from the first test and I corrected them here today,” Siraj said.

“Just because the conditions are helpful you do not need to try and bowl wicket-taking balls all the time, just put the ball in the right place and the pitch will do the rest for you. So I tried to keep it simple and it was my day today,” Siraj said.

Carnage in Cape Town 😳 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/YMMnJvDAWW

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South Africa’s batting consultant, former test star Ashwell Prince, refused to condemn the pitch although he admitted he had never seen anything quite like it on the ground where he played the majority of his first-class career.

“First of all, let’s give credit to Siraj who bowled one of the great spells, one of the best of his life I’m sure,” Prince said.

“I have never seen so much pace on the first day of a match here. There was quite a bit of grass on it which provided bounce and seam movement which South African batters don’t mind, they’re used to it. But it was the uneven bounce which made it difficult,” Prince said.

Asked whether it was a mistake opting to drop a batsman in favour of an extra bowler – and then choosing to bat first on that pitch – Prince replied: “Nobody could have foreseen that much pace and movement when we arrived here and saw the playing surface.

“We could have played it safe with an extra batter but we were going for the win, we’re still going for the win. Shukri (Conrad, head coach) was adamant before we even arrived in Cape Town that we play the conditions as they are, there were no instructions from him about the sort of pitch we wanted,” Prince said.

“Test cricket is hard and, whatever the conditions are, they are the same for both teams. I’m sure the local administrators are disappointed, they would have liked a five-day test to make some money, but it is what it is and we just have to get on with it,” Prince said.

Having been dismissed for 55 the home side bounced back by dismissing India for 153, a lead of 98 runs, but then slumped to 62-3 in their second innings, still trailing by 36 runs, with retiree Dean Elgar (4 and 12), Toni de Zorzi (2 and 1) and debutant Tristan Stubbs (3 and 1) all suffering the ignominy of being dismissed twice in a day.