Elgar blasts ‘freak’ Wanderers pitch

JOHANNESBURG: South African batsman Dean Elgar said on Saturday the Wanderers pitch used for the third and final Test against India was a “freak” that posed physical danger to batsmen.

After battling for close on six hours to make 86 not out in South Africa’s 63-run defeat, the opening batsman said the umpires would have been justified in calling off the match when several balls behaved unpredictably on Friday.

Elgar was hit on the grille of his helmet late on Friday, prompting the umpires, in consultation with match referee Andy Pycroft, to halt play shortly before the scheduled close.Referring to the incident that led to the death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes in 2014, Elgar said: “We had an incident of being hit in the head, where we could have had an incident of what happened in Australia. People want to watch Test cricket but we are also human beings — the situation could have been addressed earlier.”

Elgar said the ball which reared up into his face was “a freak moment” and said he did not believe he could have played it any better. He pointed out that it was on a day when “batsmen got hit a hell of a lot of times.”