Test cricket generally involves 5 days of gruesome, strategic battles in the middle, with teams looking to win duels in every session. However, The IND vs SA 2nd Test in Cape Town only lasted five sessions, with India achieving the series levelling victory with seven wickets to spare. The Newlands pitch has widely been criticised after the match went into the record books for being the shortest match in the history of Test cricket. As a result, the Newlands pitch may face sanctions and demerit points from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
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The ICC is likely to issue demerit points to the Newlands ground. The sanctions on the pitch will depend on match referee Chris Broad’s rating. International pitches get a rating after each match by the match referee.
Pitches can receive one of six ratings – very good, good, average, below average, poor, and unfit. If pitches attract any of the last two rating points, they receive demerit points. With the match ending in one and a half days, it seems Broad will have no option but to provide either a poor or unfit rating to the Newlands pitch.
Pitch’s rating and demerit points are generally made official after the match referee’s rating is processed by ICC’s operations team in Dubai. The verdict, in this case, is expected to arrive within a day or two.
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