IND vs SA: South African batsman Keegan Petersen predicts the wicket at the Wanderers will get tougher to bat on as the second Test against India progresses, offering the potential of a gripping contest between bat and ball.
Petersen top scored for South Africa with a maiden half century on Tuesday as the home team managed a slender first innings lead over the tourists but then allowed India to score quickly near the close of play to take a 58-run lead with eight wicket second innings wickets in hand.
IND vs SA: Half-centurion Keegan Petersen believes pitch getting difficult to bat on, says “anything under 200 would be a good chase”
IND vs SA: “I think it’s going to be tough for the rest of the test match and pitch is definitely not getting better,” he told a virtual news conference at the close of play on Tuesday.
But he warned that South Africa would need to bowl India out cheaply on Wednesday if they were to have a chance of squaring the series after losing last week’s first Test.
“We haven’t put a number to it yet but the more (runs) they get, the more difficult is going to be for us to get.
“It’s a difficult bowling attack to come up against. So realistically I’d say anything under 200 would be a good total to chase. But the more they get, the further away it gets for us.”
Petersen’s 62 runs before lunch, after South Africa were 35-1 overnight, came despite a barrage of quality bowling from India and allowed the 28-year-old, in his only his fourth test, to better savour his achievement.
“It was good bowling this morning from a top quality attack that kept you on your toes all the time. I’m happy, although I wish I could have done more to get the team into better position.”
Petersen chided himself for losing concentration once he reached his 50, suddenly playing a series of expansive shots before being caught in the slips.
IND vs SA: Half-centurion Keegan Petersen believes pitch getting difficult to bat on, says “anything under 200 would be a good chase”
“It’s a wicket where you are never really in, so when you do get that half century you get some kind of sense of you’re OK now and then you get out. I think that’s where we can be faulted and it’s the one department we can improve on. But, nevertheless, I think it was a decent effort, given the conditions.”
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