South African batter Keegan Petersen said that wicket at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg will only get tougher to bat as the ongoing second Test against India progresses.
After South Africa bundled out India for just 202 runs in the first innings of the ongoing second Test in Johannesburg, they lost opener Aiden Markram early for 7 runs.
Keegan Petersen, who came to bat at No.3, then steadied the innings along with skipper Dean Elgar as South Africa ended Day 1 at 35/1. The right-hander batted brilliantly on Day 2 and was the highest run-scorer for hosts in their first innings.
Petersen was spot on with his drives and smashed his maiden Test half-century which helped his side take a slender lead over India in the first innings.
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Addressing the press conference after Day 2 in Johannesburg, Keegan Petersen said that as the time progresses in the Test match, it’ll be tough to bat as the pitch is not going to get any easier.
He added that the more runs India will score, the more difficult it’ll be for South Africa. He quipped that chasing anything under 200 would be a good total.
"I think it's going to be tough for the rest of the test match and pitch is definitely not getting better. 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,” Keegan Petersen said.
Keegan Petersen lauded Indian bowlers for their performance in the first session of the Day 2 of the ongoing second Test in Johannesburg.
He expressed his disappointment, saying that he could’ve scored more runs to get his team into a better position. He noted that the batters should be faulted for getting carried away after reaching fifties but called it a "decent effort" overall.
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"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 a better position.
“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,” he said.
Petersen’s 62-run knock helped South Africa take a lead of 27 runs in the first innings. In reply even though India lost both the openers but they were 58 runs ahead of the hosts at stumps on Day 2 with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane unbeaten at 35 and 11 respectively.
(Reuters inputs)
