One of the side pitches at St George's Park, the venue of the second Test between Australia and South Africa, has reportedly been revealed as the real reason behind the hosts' mastery of reverse swing.
After a devastating 281-run defeat at an uneven Centurion pitch at the first Test, South Africa rode to victory at Port Elizabeth in the second Test by 231 runs, levelling the three-Test series.
According to News.com.au, South Africa was aware that one of the eight Port Elizabeth pitches had been re-laid with a different soil and thus was more abrasive than the other seven strips, adding that it is possible that the hosts' bowlers deliberately threw the ball into that specific pitch in order to accelerate the reverse swing process.
The report further said that one of the pitches, situated right at the end, was re-laid with soil from Pretoria in an effort to produce a surface with more pace and bounce, although it added that there was nothing wrong if the ball landed there more often than was normal when South Africa was fielding.
Although the report mentioned that the hosts were seen regularly applying sweat and saliva to one side of the ball, the ball cannot be tampered with as the umpires check the condition of the ball after every over nowadays and would be extra diligent as soon as they saw how much the ball was swinging.