By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS
Kanpur : South African batsman Hashim Amla feels that the spinners will dictate terms on the Green Park pitch after the way his side was dismissed for 265 in the first innings on the opening day of the first Test here Friday.
Amla, with 51 was the second highest scorer behind captain Graeme Smith (69), said that South African batsmen will have to be patient if they want to succeed against the Indian spinners.
“There is turn in the wicket, but it is slow. We have a game on hand and we need to take wickets,” Amla told reporters after the day’s play.
“Obviously, you have to work hard against spinners on these sort of wickets and try to hang in there as long as you can. Yes, it was a lot more difficult to stay on the wicket, and there was a lot more turn than in any other wicket (in the series) on the first day. So you need to be patient as well,” he added.
The pitch had been the talking point on the eve of the match and the visitors feared that a turning track would be prepared to help the Indian spinners with the home team down 0-1 in the three-Test series. But the Indian slow bowlers hardly got any unfair advantage from the pitch.
But Amla maintained that the pitch had some encouraging signs for his team. “Yes, there were some encouraging signs for our bowlers. The bounce was low and there were cracks and they will open up a lot more on the morrow. I think there will be variable bounce.”
“The key in playing spinners is to play as late as possible. But there are lot of other things that go with it, like sticking to the game plan that you have made for the day etc,” he added.
Amla and Smith (69) scored 91 for the second wicket, before the Indians ran through the lower half of the side.