'More in favour of the bowler' - Dean Elgar opens up on Cape Town pitch used for India vs South Africa Test

South Africa's stand-in captain, Dean Elgar, is confident in his team's ability to defend a target of 100 runs in the Cape Town Test match. The match saw a dramatic Day 1 with 23 wickets tumbling with the pacers having a field day on a surface with unpredictable bounce. 

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South Africa were bowled out for just 55 runs in the first session, but India also collapsed, losing their last six wickets for zero runs after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli steadied the ship helping them post 155. At the end of Day 1, South Africa, having lost three wickets for 62 runs and still trail by 36 runs.

Elgar, despite criticism for choosing to bat in the Cape Town Test, mentioned that the pitch appeared better to the naked eye. He acknowledged the challenging nature of the wicket but emphasized that with a stunning bowling attack, South Africa could successfully defend a target of 100 runs.

What did Dean Elgar say?

"I would take 100 (victory target) all day," Elgar told reporters.

"When our bowlers click they can rip through any batting lineup and on this wicket that is possible. I didn’t know it would play in that way though, with the naked eye it did not look so bad. But it’s one of those wickets where if you knuckle down, you never know what can happen. You still have to put the ball in the right area and they (India) executed that to a tee. This pitch just seemed to get quicker as the (first) session went on. I don’t know what to make of it."

The stand-in captain praised the bowlers, especially Mohammed Siraj, whose impressive spell saw him pick up 6 wickets in the opening 9 overs but insisted that the pitch was not bad but just 'challenging'.

"As a batter, you have to play the way Virat (Kohli), Aiden (Makram) and Rohit (Sharma) applied themselves," Elgar said. "You obviously got to take a few risks out there. And hopefully, you get a reward.  can't say that because personally, I've had success on wickets that have gone around. My record on our wickets has been pretty good. 

"They have been challenging but I think that's what you've got to experience as a batter. For me, it's all about the balance between bat and ball and it's a fine line to get that right.

:In South Africa, maybe they get a little bit wrong and it is more in favour of the bowler. But as a batter, you've still got to go out and apply yourself and you've got to really be mentally hard on yourself to be disciplined, stay to a very simple game plan and execute. There's no excuse going forward. You still have to apply yourself and that's anywhere around the world. But particularly in South Africa where it is a little bit tougher."

What did Ashwell Prince say about the Cape Town wicket?

While Elgar couldn't pinpoint the reason for the pitch's unusual behaviour, Ashwell Prince, South African batting consultant, also denied labelling it as poor. However, he did feel that “there was something wrong” at Newlands. 

“I’ve never seen the pitch that quick on day one,” said Prince, who played 11 of his 66 Test matches on this ground. 

“As a batsman, you don’t mind pace in the wicket if the bounce is consistent but the bounce was a little bit inconsistent. You expect a bit of seam movement on day one but seam movement with inconsistent bounce is a different situation. Sometimes it happens that a great bowling line-up bowls out a team cheaply but if both batting line-ups can’t bat there’s something wrong.

"There was a bit of grass on the pitch but the tendency at Newlands is for it to take spin later on so it made sense to bat. I don’t think anyone could have foreseen how the pitch would play. 

"One team can get bowled out. I remember a Test in India, where they had a formidable batting line-up, and we bowled them out before lunch on day one. If you give a top-quality attack, bowler-friendly conditions then they can do some serious damage. To sum things up, if both line-ups can't bat on the surface, that says a lot."

MORE: Who is India's best bowler in overseas Tests in last 10 years?

List of South Africa's lowest innings totals in Tests at home

South Africa are a brilliant side at home in Tests and it's not easy to get the better of them in red-ball cricket in their own backyard. 

However, their lowest innings total in Tests has come at home itself. In 1896, in a Test match against England, the Proteas were bundled for just 30 runs, which remains their record-lowest innings total at home (overall, too).

MORE: Sunil Gavaskar gives Shubman Gill advice to improve in Tests

List of South Africa's lowest innings totals in Tests (overall)

South Africa's lowest innings total in Tests, home or away, is 30 runs, which they achieved twice. 

What are South Africa's lowest innings totals in Tests at home against India?

India bowled South Africa out for 84 in the Johannesburg Test in 2006, with the visitors clinching the Test. That was the hosts' lowest total in Tests at home against India.

In the ongoing Test match, though, India broke that record and have now dismissed them for their lowest total in their own den. 

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